Tomorrow Never Knows
by Novel Intent
Summary: When Melody Corden wakes up at Hogwarts one morning she's certain it's a dream, but it isn't. She soon realizes that with her knowledge of this strange new place she can alter the outcome of things yet to come and perhaps even save the world. But will her interference make for a better future or unravel time itself? AU/TIME-TRAVEL.
1. Sunday to Wednesday

**Disclaimer:**I'm not currently nor have I ever been J.K. Rowling so none of what follows which you recognize belongs to me. Plotline and OCs, however, are mine.

**A/N:** This is a rewrite by the same name as the original, I just thought I'd point this out to avoid any confusion. I can't guarantee that it will be any better though I do hope it is just as good. Those of you who loved the original, well, I'm sorry I ever took it down. I still have no idea why I did that though it must have been when I was going through bad times and I chose to take it out on my HPFF account? I honestly have no idea. I do regret it though so I might just end up putting the original back up along with this one. If you were a fan of the original AUM I encourage you to read this one because it is quite a departure from it and will be (if I ever get to writing it) what the sequel _Poppy Fields_ will go off of. I don't love this chapter but I think it does a good job at introducing Melody, Neil and Mary. I'll let you be the judge of that. Just let me know, yeah? Don't be shy, all constructive comments are appreciated. Thanks for checking this out. Oookay I'm done babbling! Happy Reading!

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**Chapter 1: Sunday/Wednesday**

Most people or, rather, _normal_people tend to notice the strange and uncommon. So accustomed to the monotony of every day life, when something is even the slightest bit off one tends to take notice immediately. Melody Corden was not one of those people. She had always been scatterbrained; the kind of girl that would put something away then, only minutes later, start to panic thinking she had misplaced it.

If by nature she had been different or perhaps a tad more observant, then there's a chance things might have unraveled differently that day. The day which she would forevermore know as the day it all began.

When she woke her thoughts centered solely on how dreadful she felt. Obedient as she was forgetful, Melody had no idea what to expect after her first venture into the world heavy partying and drinking. She hangover was but had never experienced one and until then had written off others descriptions of it as pure exaggeration to scare her away from the temptation of alcohol. She was wrong and they had clearly sugarcoated the horrid sensation. She could only describe it as her brain melting while her skull was simultaneously being attacked by an armada of jackhammers. Then there was the exhaustion, the nausea, and the extremely low tolerance to light and noise. It was awful, and she could not understand how people could continue to drink after becoming familiar with this feeling.

It was the only thing on her mind so years later when she would finally take the time to sit and look back on this day she would berate herself for having been so blind. The sheer extent of it would later make her feel like an idiot. Others would have noticed waking up in an actual bed after years of sleeping on tatami mats, they would have noticed that the unfamiliar room which she was in was far larger than the one she had shared with her brother for the past seven years, but not Melody. The room she woke up in better lit than the one back home and filled with girls in various stages of undress yet she did not seem to notice.

She didn't pay enough attention to find it strange. None at all. She yawned, stretched, and lazily rolled herself out of bed as if it were any other day because in her mind it was despite the hangover.

"Who throws a party on a weekday?" she muttered groggily, walking zombie-like to the bathroom.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she acknowledged the morning greetings from the strange girls around her but replied with only a grunt. Not that this, by any means, was uncommon behavior. She could not muster anything more complex than monosyllables before breakfast.

All Melody really cared about was that she was going to have to go to school with a hangover, something which she wouldn't have had to deal with if she and her brother Neil hadn't gone to a party their mother had explicitly prohibited them from attending. Worse still, it had been one of dodgy Riley Palmer's parties. She feared she might have done something worse than drinking herself silly. After all, everyone knew Riley and the rest of those theatre kids were pretty sketchy. For all Melody knew they could have sold her or, God forbid, taken advantage of her surprisingly friendly drunken nature. She would have to check her wallet later. Bombarded by thoughts of all the possible scenarios, Melody shuddered.

She was sure her mother would go ballistic if she ever found out about it which was exactly why neither she nor Neil could take a sick day. It was their semester finals week and Melody had never mastered the art of lying to their mother. She knew that if they tried to bunk off she would let the truth would slip, they would wind up grounded and that would only set off a chain reaction. Neil would be cross with her for getting him into trouble for something he hadn't even wanted to do and refuse to drive her to the bookstore on Saturdays for at least a month—Melody was sure as hell not taking the bus (she attracted too many crazies on public transportation). The best thing she could do was keep it cool. She reasoned that pretending nothing was wrong was easy since she wouldn't _technically_be lying, not with words anyway.

In the bathroom she looked in the mirror only to find that she did not look all that different. Being innocent in the ways of typical teenage antics she had no idea if there were external signs to look for after such a night that could possibly give her away. She looked slightly more tired than usual but figured she could blame it on late night cramming. It was a perfectly legit explanation since finals were the only things that could compel her to actually study.

_'If I get away with this I promise to never, never, never so much as look at a bottle, glass, shot, or plastic cup full of alcohol again'_, she thought while she washed her face.

The headache only seemed to grow worse. Fueled by guilt, perhaps?

It wasn't until she was nearly done with her morning routine that Melody began to notice the peculiarities around her.

Neil was the early riser, not her, and so he always got the bathroom first. He also showered in the morning, taking ages to do so, but he wasn't in the bathroom with her, nor could she hear him snoring in the other room. This observation only sparked another: the toilet was where the shower should be...there was no window...no light switch... Her eyes, which she knew had always been brown, looked a greenish hazel...and she couldn't recall ever having freckles.

_'Have I always been this pale?'_

Then, standing in that strange bathroom wearing a pair of frilly pink underpants and an oversized shirt with a picture of an Owl that said, "Owl You Need Is Love," Melody finally wondered:

"What the hell is going on?"

She had no clue where she was and could only assume she had been right about the drama kids... It made her stomach turn. Who knew were that lot had been since Freshman year?

She begun to hyperventilate when there was a light knock on the door.

"Hurry up in thair, Mels," said the muffled voice, "Ah'm starvin."

But it didn't sound like any of the drama kids, and Melody knew them all. She thought that maybe it was one of the exchange students. It sounded like a girl so it could not have been the one from Portugal or the one from Austria. It must have been the one from Brazil, but the accent didn't sound very Brazilian. It actually sounded very _Trainspotting_to her.

"Be out in a sec!" she called nervously, her voice rising several octaves.

Suddenly she recalled the other girls, the half-naked scurrying about the room. Had she been kidnapped and taken to a brothel? Because if that was the case then there was absolutely no way they would get her to work. She was most definitely not that kind of girl, no matter what those stupid rumors Raquel Yannis had made up about her in ninth grade had not-so-subtly implied.

Melody took a deep breath, her hand shaking on the doorknob, as she emerged from the bathroom.

"Cor! Yir no even dressed yet," said the Diane Coulston*-like brunette, looking her over disapprovingly.

Melody stared blankly at the girl trying to match her face to a name rather unsuccessfully. She wasn't the exchange student from Brazil, she wasn't one of the thespians, and she definitely wasn't one of Raquel's minions. So, who was she?

Looking around the room Melody took in the red and gold decor, the old-fashioned four-poster beds and stone walls. An answer to her ever present question was wiggling at the back of her mind but she refused to acknowledge it due to the sheer ridiculousness of it. Unless it was a dream. If it was, she had to give it major points for realism.

"Ye comin?" the mystery girl prompted impatiently.

Melody shook her head, a nervous laugh bubbling out. "Go on without me," she managed to say.

The other girls had gone already except for one that was still tangled in her bed sheets. The bed Melody had gotten out of was the only one unoccupied and still unmade, at the foot of it lay a large trunk with her initials on its little bronze plate: _M.T.C._

It was just too weird. Even more so when she opened it, discovering that most of its contents seemed straight out of a hipster's wardrobe. Every piece in there that wasn't one of those odd black dress things with the oversized sleeves was what the effortlessly-cool kids at her school would call "vintage." It took her ages to find something she would not be embarrassed to wear which ended up being a pair of faded jeans with slightly belled bottoms, a baseball jersey with red sleeves and matching Converse.

By then Sleeping Beauty had already risen and finished getting ready. She proved to be freakishly fast with her morning routine which Melody guessed was why she took the liberty of waking up so much later than the others. Melody hadn't finished tying her shoes when the girl was already leaving, but she stopped at the door and did a double-take.

She was so blonde and so pretty that it almost hurt to look at her. She could feel her self-esteem deflating like a sad, ugly balloon. If everyone here was as pretty as the Scottish one or this blonde one she would have to walk around with a paper bag over her head.

"Still here, Corden?" she asked with a look of bewilderment and concern. "Are you ill?"

This one's accent was not like the first. It was more _Bridget Jones_-y.

"Um."

There wasn't really any way Melody could respond considering she was already somewhat in the middle of a nervous breakdown.

After what seemed like hours of Blondie staring at her expectantly Melody shook her head, exacerbating the ache and the spinning and the not-so-good tummy feeling. Blondie seemed to notice.

"Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing?" she asked.

There it was again, the stupid nagging feeling of recognition she was trying so hard to subdue.

"No. I'm fine," Melody insisted. "Right as rain and whatnot. I am pretty hungry, though."

And she was. Her stomach was rumbling so much she feared it would get so mad at her negligence and just slither out of her body.

Blondie gave her a look that said she wasn't convinced but shrugged. "Come on then."

* * *

By the time the two girls had made it downstairs to breakfast Melody was 100% sure she had lost it. Unwilling to admit it, she opted for denial. So when she saw the seemingly alive portraits she told herself they were flatscreen televisions; the moving staircases with the occasional vanishing steps were new kinds of escalators that promoted exercise and mental agility; the ghosts were simple projections; and the ceiling in the 'Great Hall' was just another screen. In her mind there was nothing magical about this place. It was not the fictional setting of a book series but an incredibly technological albeit old-fashioned looking building which she happened to wake up it for some reason or other.

But then she accidentally walked through one of the ghosts and the disturbing feeling it left her with forced her to revert back to the dream theory. It only seemed to work when she didn't pay too much attention to details. If she focused on the people—even if they were all strangers—she managed to feel a teensy bit relaxed.

The brown-haired girl from before looked up as Melody and Blondie approached her table and shot them a kind smile, scooting over to make some room. "Ah saved ye some oatmeal."

"Thanks," said Melody, accepting the bowl.

Somehow the girl had known Melody liked her oatmeal with slices of strawberries which not even her mother knew. Though, to be fair, Ms. Corden only ever made the flavored microwavable kind. However, as she had decided it was a dream, Melody tried not to linger on this. Instead she began shoveling the lukewarm mush into her mouth.

"Try to get her to see Pomfrey after she eats," said Blondie before going over to her friends at the other end of the long table. Melody continued eating, pretending she hadn't heard her. "Seems a bit peaky, doesn't she, Mary?"

Melody had a feeling Mary wanted to agree but she didn't say anything, just kept sneaking occasional worried glances at her from the corner of her eye.

"Lucky fir ye it's Sunday," she said, giving Melody a stern, knowing look.

Blondie might not have noticed but Mary definitely knew she was hungover.

"It's Wednesday," groaned Melody miserably, taking a sip from her glass of orange juice.

"No, it's Sunday," corrected Mary.

"It's the 19th of December."

"Aye, ah know," she said. "19th o December, 1976. Sunday."

1976. Just when Melody thought the dream/delusion/breakdown couldn't get any worse, it did. But...it did finally explain everyone's clothes and hair.

"2007," she corrected, knowing full well that arguing with a fictional dream creature was pointless.

"1976." And Mary laughed. "Ah should have known! Had me going thair fer a mo!"

It was difficult enough for Melody to understand Mary when she spoke softly, but when she laughed her words became entirely incoherent.

"Is this a joke?" she asked confused which only made Mary laugh harder.

1976.

The panic was resurfacing and her headache wasn't getting any less painful. Everything was becoming realer by the second and it couldn't! Because if it was real then that would mean she was really there...in that place...in..._Hogwarts_.

1976.

If this was Hogwarts and her room was red and gold and this Scottish girl's name was Mary—

NO! IT COULDN'TBE REAL!

It was impossible. It was impossible and yet as much as Melody didn't want it to be real she could feel that it was. It was real and she didn't want it to be. It was real but she couldn't understand why she was there.

She begun to hyperventilate again, only this time it was loud enough for those around her to take notice. Mary didn't know what was wrong but she stopped laughing immediately and begun telling her to calm down. Melody couldn't! She just couldn't! The room was spinning and getting smaller at the same time, and it was so much hotter. Melody felt a desperate need to get out of there and go as far as she could from it.

She jerked out of her seat, intending to run away, but her foot caught on the bench sending her hurling face-forward onto the marble floor. Hard. Painfully.

And just like that everything went black.

* * *

_"You're not actually going to go, are you?" asked Neil, looking up from his homework as Melody twisted her hair into a messy bun at the nape of her neck. "Mom'll loose it if she finds out."_

"Which is exactly why she won't," said Melody with utter confidence. "I'll be back at least an hour before she gets off work. You're welcome to join me."

Neil rolled his eyes. "No, thanks. We have a pre-calculus test tomorrow and I am going to study so that I won't have to take it again next year. Besides, we shouldn't be hanging around such a sketchy crowd."

"More reason for you to join me. You can keep me safe from all the nefarious ongoings that Palmer and the rest of the drama nerds get up to. There's going to be drinking and hooking up—not that I'll be a part of it. I just want to check it out," she whined, pouting. "Please?"

Neil looked his sister over skeptically. She was obviously planning to be a part of the drinking and hooking up if she was going dressed like that, in a short, tight-fitting dress and a push up bra. She was wearing red lipstick, for goodness sake! If that didn't send out the 'available and willing' vibe, he didn't know what did. He knew she was doing it on purpose, that she was scaring him into going with her.

It worked.

"Fine," he sighed. "Give me five minutes, okay?"

From what little Melody had managed to recall about it she knew the party had been not too different from those on television. Bad popular music, puking in the bushes, hookups in ever corner: the usual. Yet it bothered her that she could not recall the details of it. It was almost as if the whole thing had been a dream. She couldn't remember leaving the house to go to Palmer's only suddenly being there in the middle of it. She couldn't remember when she and Neil had gotten separated or what either of them had done, though obviously alcohol had been involved on her end.

When she woke, headache subdued, Melody was relieved to see a familiar face. Neil looked down at her, the crease between his thick eyebrows smoothing when she gave him a small, tired smiled.

"Hey," he sighed, obviously relieved. "That was a nasty fall. Are you all right?"

Melody nodded though she quickly gauged that something was off about her brother. It seemed that with all the weirdness she had experienced that morning she had become slightly more aware of the changes around her. For example, she wouldn't exactly say she knew everything about her older-by-three-minutes brother but she had definitely known him long enough to know the way he spoke. Last she knew she and Neil were from Southern California, yet his accent was unlike what one would typically hear from a native. And Neil wasn't an actor, he was an aspiring physics major. The closest Melody had ever heard him speaking like this was when they were five and he still had a lisp.

"Pomfrey's fixed you up, said you'd be good to go once you woke up." Melody nodded again, trying to wrap her head around Neil speaking all across-the-pond-y. "Are you sure you're fine?" he asked skeptically. "You're so quiet. Usually I can't get a word in edgewise."

"Neil, do you," Melody whispered hoarsely, her eyes darting nervously around the room, "have _any_idea where we are?"

"School," he replied slowly, speaking the way one might when explaining something complex to a small child. "It's where we've been for the last three and a half months. We're going home on Saturday, remember?"

And with that the panic began to set in again, only this time she fought to hide it. She was still in the dream. Still stuck in a place she desperately wanted to get out of and, though it never worked, she reverted to denial.

"Is this one of you're pranks because if it is I swear I haven't told mom about the party! I haven't even told her what I caught you doing to Raquel behind the bleachers at Homecoming! Whatever I did, I'm sorry, all right?!"

"I really have no idea what you're rambling on about, Mels." He gave her another of the 'you're crazy' looks that she was growing tired of. She was sure that if this went on any longer she certainly would loose her mind. "And why are you talking like that?"

_'I should be asking you the same question, you useless sod!'_she thought.

"This is the way I've always talked, Neil." Her voice trembled and she fought to push back the tears prickling behind her eyes. She set her hands down at her sides to keep her from falling back onto the mattress.

"No, you haven't. I've known you long enough to know that isn't true."

"Where are we?" she asked again, far more demanding this time.

"Hogwarts, Mels. Where else?"

"Don't say that!" she whined childishly, wildly trashing about until Neil took hold of her legs and forced her to stop.

"What the hell's wrong with you?"

"That's what I want to know!" Melody's throat constricted and her chest ached. She wanted to go home, or at least get out as far away from this place as soon as possible. She didn't have it in her to deal with this madness. "God, Neil, I think I'm losing it. I'm having a nervous breakdown or midlife crisis or something! I don't know. Can you even have a midlife crisis at seventeen?!"

"Sixteen," he corrected. "We won't be seventeen for another two weeks. Why are you like this, Melody? Is it stress? Because it wasn't this bad last year and we had O.W.L.s."

She only managed to let out a small whimper.

Obviously, she was in the middle of some sort of _Alice In Wonderland_-like scenario, having fallen into this strange, nonsensical world. She forced herself to accept it though it was, in all, quite terrifying. She had no way of knowing if it was temporary or if she would be stuck there forever. Or if it was only her and Neil, if anyone else from the real world got sucked in. Though that didn't really seem to be the case with Neil; he looked and sounded like he belonged. Maybe he did. Maybe, thought Melody, she was in an alternate universe having somehow swapped with this world's Melody Corden.

She couldn't remember ever having read about a Melody Corden in the Harry Potter books but the 70s/80s bits of the book hadn't mentioned that many characters except for Lily and the Marauders so it was certainly a possibility. For all she knew her alternate self could have been one of those girls with Lily Evans by the lake in Snape's worst memory, or even that girl that was swooning over Sirius Black during the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam...

So if she had indeed swapped worlds with her parallel universe self she couldn't afford to raise any suspicion. After all, Melody wasn't stupid. She knew that there was a war going on. She wouldn't have been so terrified if she'd landed in another time, like, say, the Next Gen era. But it was 1976 and if she wasn't careful she might be taken as an impostor and that would not be good. They could kill her if they thought she was impostor and it wasn't like anyone would believe her story. She was still having a hard time believing it herself.

Melody knew she had to blend, but she didn't know how well she would be able to. Her only experience with accents from this part of the world was when she played Lady Capulet her freshman year and she didn't know how well that had been. Not to mention that as much as she loved the books and as many times as she had read all seven she was not a _Harry Potter_encyclopedia; she knew the story but was fuzzy on the details and that would no doubt prove to be a problem now that the wizarding world was real. She had no way of knowing if this world's Melody was clever or dim, a pariah or popular, poised or uncoordinated. The list went on. But she had to give it her best shot.

So, mimicking Neil's manner of speaking, she said, "We can't all be as clever as you are. I guess the pressure of N.E.W.T. level classes has finally caught up with me. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so dramatic about it."

It must have worked because her brother gave her his first genuine smile since she woke, and ruffled her hair. "Merlin, you really had me worried!"

Melody gave a noncommittal hum, finally noticed the girl sitting not to far away from them.

"Wotcher, Mary," she greeted with a small wave.

Mary smiled timidly and approached them, taking Neil's spot beside Melody as he rose gracefully to his feel.

"You're leaving," she asked, frowning slightly when he nodded.

"Prior commitment, I'm afraid," he said, sincerely sorry. "I'm late as it is, but I'll see you both at dinner?"

She and Melody nodded, exchanging their goodbyes.

"Are you feeling better now?" asked Mary as Neil walked out.

"A lot better," said Melody. "I'm not as sore as I thought I would be so I guess they'll let me out soon enough. Have I been here long?"

"About an hour. It's on a little past noon."

Though she had only talked to her for probably no more than five minutes, Melody was already attached to Mary who possessed an immediately likable quality. Gloom and doom aside, if she really thought about it, being at Hogwarts in the 70s wasn't all that bad. Neil was still Neil despite the way he talked and Mary was the first real friend she had had in half a decade. As long as she was careful there wasn't any reason she couldn't enjoy herself while she waited to go back home. In fact, her prior panic even seemed silly. What she was living, it was a fangirl's dream come true. She would have the rare, albeit unbelievable, experience to see and perhaps meet some of her all time favorite literary characters. Like Dumbledore! (And who wouldn't want to meet him?) That would definitely prove to be amazing.

"You finished the paper for Charms right?" asked Mary, not really in search of a response. "I was hoping I could take a look at it just to see if I'm on the right track. Can I?"

"I don't—um—I guess," she said, staring out the window as a fresh batch of snow flakes gently blew across. She had never seen real snow, but she had always wanted to. Even from were she sat there was something magical and hypnotic about it and she had the sudden urge to run outside as she was and make a snow angel.

"Are you sure you're better, Mels? I know you say you are but you've been acting strange all day. What's the matter?"

The slight hint of panic in Mary's voice was enough to break Melody from her daze.

"Stressed out, I guess. Everything's so real," she explained, intentionally keeping it vague.

Mary nodded understandingly. "I know. It's scary, isn't it, to know we're almost out of this place? Merlin, it feels like we only just got here."

"You have no idea," snorted Melody, but Mary didn't seem to catch her sarcasm.

"Is that it, then? Are you having second thoughts about becoming an Auror?"

"Becoming a what?"

Melody was not Auror material and she very well knew it. She was about as brave as the Lion from _The Wizard of Oz_. Spiders scared her, dogs scared her if they got too close, the dark absolutely terrified her. Auror's were supposed to be fearless and hardcore, they went up against the worst of the worst fully aware that they might not make it out alive. Back in her world Melody was hoping to get into a UC and major in English literature. She wanted to work in the publishing business where the worst thing that could happen to her was a paper cut or having to take the stairs when the elevator broke down. She did not possess a single nerve of steel in her body.

"It's okay if you're scared and it's not too late to change your mind, you know" said Mary. "You're already fulfilling the requirements to enter the Healer training program after graduation. We can do it together, and its just as important an occupation. They need plenty of Healers in a war."

"I know," said Melody, swallowing back her fear, "and I'll think about it, but for now I'll keep things as they are."

That was essential. She couldn't tamper or interfere because eventually she and the other Melody would switch back. When that would be was yet to be determined but they had to...someday. Until then she couldn't be herself, she had to learn her part and play it right.

"Sooo, Charms paper, right?" she said, hoping out out the small, uncomfortable hospital bed. "Let me go get it, then we can work together in the library."

* * *

**Notes:** Forgot to mention I don't own neither the book nor the movie _Trainspotting_ which was very briefly mentioned in this chapter and what I am styling Mary Macdonald's dialogue after. Also, I will most likely be editing this chapter soon (not as much for content as for any grammatical or spelling mistakes I might have overlooked).

*Character from the movie _Trainspotting_ (1996) I pictured the actress who played her for Mary as I wrote this.


	2. Lost In Transfiguration

_**Disclaimer:**__ Still don't own anything but Melody, Neil and the drama...  
__**A/N:**__ A little more intro in this chapter but the story really starts to take off from this point on. I will be editing this later, so feel free to point out any errors and give me constructive criticism. Reviews are always appreciated. Enjoy the chapter!_

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_**Chapter 2: Lost In Transfiguration**_

_"You ever feel like you're not sure you're awake or still dreaming?"_

"Do you realize that was a direct quote from The Matrix_?" snorted Neil, looking at the scene before him and his sister unimpressed._

It wasn't a particular glamorous affair but to Melody, who had never before been granted entrance into this bizarre world, it was something delightful to behold. Everyone seemed so much older than her and strangely inhuman, as if they were members of long-lost species newly rediscovered.

It was wonderful, this freedom of walking through a crowd without having to worry about running into Raquel and her posse since her's and the drama crowd did not mix well. It had been so long that she had forgotten what it was like to go unnoticed, to blend in instead of being forced to stand out. She absolutely reveled in her invisibility, laughing giddily and beginning to sway to the music. Her heart thumped in time to the beat, hard, caught in her throat.

Beside her, Neil was having the complete opposite of her reaction. He felt nervous and uncomfortable about the hungry stares he attracted from the girls around him, outfitted in pieces far shorter and tighter than his sister's and leaving far less to the imagination. That's what they were all going for. No one was there to make conversation, they all wanted something. Something to drink. Something to smoke. Someone to hit, make jealous, or do. The music, the dancing: it was just to set the scene. Something secondary. It was here, like in politics, that one saw how we were not as different from animals as we might like to think.

Neil just wanted to get out. He needed to study, to sleep. Neither he nor Melody belonged.

"Why are we even here?" he asked.

"To have fun, of course," Melody giggled, before disappearing into the crowd.

She, too, knew she didn't belong and it scared her, but she would make herself a part. She was determined to stitch herself into the fabric of this reality...and live.

Melody tumbled out of bed, hitting the floor with a loud thump; a painful reminder of why she wasn't supposed to sleep on anything but the floor. Her hand fumbled blindly across the surface of her bedside table looking for the infernal contraption whose shrill ring had so abruptly startled her from her dull dreams. Finally clutching the alarm clock she slammed down on it hard, silencing it. Its noise still echoed in her ears.

"Here we go," she grumbled, pushing herself up onto her feet.

Around her her roommates were also rising, muttering semi-incoherently and yawning as they mentally prepared themselves for the academic day ahead. It was a chaos, completely unlike the previous quiet and relaxed morning. There were no pleasantries. It was war. The girls immediately darted for the shower which made Melody glad she was accustomed to bathing at night. She got in and out of the bathroom without shedding any blood.

She threw on her robes, slipped on her shoes, and pinned back her now-misbehaving curls with a pair red clips she had found in her trunk. Gazing at her reflection in the mirror which hung beside the door she determined she looked good enough given her minimal effort and lack of cosmetic aid. She realized she didn't look all that different from how she did back home except for being paler and a size or two thinner. She just couldn't get over the freckles. Not that they were that noticeable but they vaguely reminded her of what she looked like when her skin was riddled with acne.

"You're looking better this morning." Mary smiled, exiting the bathroom.

She, too, wore hair clips only hers had little plastic flowers glued to them which sparkled in the light. And, though they were exactly the same as Melody's, her robes looked much better on her. Melody thought it was because Mary was taller and a tad bit thinner than she was, though it was probably because she was much more used to them. As it was Melody's first time wearing school robes they felt heavy and awkward, traits which manifested in her slightly hunched posture.

A loud crash came from the bathroom making Melody jump, but Mary just rolled her eyes. "Evans, is definitely not a morning person. You'd think Tam would know not to get in her way by now," she sighed, adjusting her bag's strap on her shoulder. "Ready to go?"

Melody nodded, following her out in a mild daze.

When Mary had said, 'Evans' she hadn't meant...?

Surely not. It was a common surname, wasn't it? And just because she was at Hogwarts in the year 1976 and was a Gryffindor (something which she definitely could not understand)... Just because one of her roommates was called Evans didn't mean it was going to be _her_. There had to be other girls with the surname that weren't destined to give birth to the Boy Who Lived/Chosen One.

However, Melody chose to push it from her mind and focus on whatever it was Mary was enthusiastically chattering on about. It sounded like plans for Christmas; Melody and Neil would be going home, no doubt.

"Thanks again for inviting me to yours, Mels," said Mary, with a slight hop to her step. "I know you do every year but my parents have been really worried lately about everything going out and they reckon your place would be safest."

Mary must have been a muggleborn, Melody realized, and she got to wondering about what her blood status in this universe was. Not that it really made a difference, she was just curious. Still, if the Macdonalds thought their daughter was safest with her the Cordens then she and Neil were obviously not muggleborns themselves. She wanted to ask but knew it would only sound stupid and out of character. Who wouldn't know their blood status in sixth year? Unless they were adopted or orphans, of course.

"I'm afraid I'll be a burden to your mum."

"Don't be stupid. You're no burden at all!" said Melody. She meant it.

She looked forward to spending her time away from school with Mary. Not only did she seem like a fantastic friend but it also provided a perfect opportunity to lean more about this world and her place in it since she hadn't interacted with anyone else enough to figure those things out herself.

"My mum loves you, Mary" she added.

Melody had no real way of knowing if this was true but it seemed impossible for anyone to hate Mary's kind and docile nature.

Both girls entered the Great Hall in a fit of giggles from something stupid Melody had said about underwear, and took their place at the end of the Gryffindor table nearest the doors.

Before beginning to eat Mary looked through the contents of her bag to make sure she hadn't left anything back in their room. Seeing this as a wise thing to do, Melody followed her lead, naming the subjects aloud as she went.

"Transfiguration: check. Herbology... We have Charms tomorrow, right?" Mary nodded. "Right. It's Monday!" she chirped with false enthusiasm that made Mary and a couple of others around them laugh. Though the two were apparently loners, Melody seemed to be well-known and even admired amongst their fellow Gryffies...or, at least, they thought she was funny. "I'll just take my book back up later."

"Don't forget we have also have double Potions after lunch."

Melody groaned, slamming her head onto the table. She had always been an awful cook no matter the effort she put into it so she was certain she would be no better at brewing weird ingredients in a cauldron. Transfiguration and Herbology were doable in comparison, but she was nervous about them as well. She hadn't even taken the time to check if she could do magic. If she couldn't then the jig would be up and—

_Off with her head!_ (Not literally, she hoped, but the sentiment would most likely be the same)

There was nothing she could do about it. She either had it or she didn't, and if it proved to be the latter she could only joke about not being able to perform under pressure for so long before they figured out something was up.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?"

Melody's stomach was flipping, making her feel nauseous, but she couldn't let her trepidation show. In response she took an apple from the fruit bowl in front of them and took a huge bite out of it, chewing it slowly until they had to go.

As they walked to the classroom Melody contemplated the little time she had spent within the castle's walls. She found it strange and mildly suspicious that she had not run into anyone from the books other than Mary that morning or the day before. There was Madam Pomfrey, but she had been unconscious for the majority of her stay in the Hospital Wing and hadn't really seen the Matron. She hadn't really been people watching in the Great Hall either since her mind was preoccupied by thoughts of how the rest of her day would play out. But someone besides her supposed bestie should have popped up by then. It had been more than twenty-four hours! And if Lily Evans was one of her roommates why hadn't she seen her yet? The Marauders, too! They were troublemakers, _teenage boys_, and she had not seen or heard them yet. Weren't they the sort that made a scene? To demand everyone's undivided attention?

She had decided to try to spot them in Transfiguration but was distracted by her own panicking inner monologue as she began flipping through the textbook. She was good at school, really good, which obviously meant she knew how to read but though the book was undoubtedly in English she barely understood any of what it said. Everything was all advanced magical terminology; exactly what she should have expected from a N.E.W.T. Level course. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest, threatening to break through her ribs, making it impossible for her to relax.

She and Mary sat dead center where they would be in Professor McGonagall's direct line of sight. It was the no man's land on the classroom when it came to question-answering time. It didn't matter if your hand was up or not, if you knew the answer or you didn't, because the teacher always called on you if you sat in the middle. The ones in the front were the ones who always participated and the ones in the back were the lost causes teachers didn't even bother with after the first couple of weeks. She was toast.

Melody had to hold back a nervous laugh when Professor McGonagall walked authoritatively into the room, wearing a no-nonsense look that made it obvious she meant business.

With shaking hands Melody put on her glasses and held her quill at the starting position over her parchment, determined to do well.

"Good morning, everyone," McGonagall began. "I trust you all spent the weekend wisely by reading through the introduction to the chapter on human Transfiguration as you were supposed to."  
The professor's unconvinced gaze fell on a cluster of boys about two rows in front of Mary and Melody. "For today's lesson we will be starting off with something simple which, as N.E.W.T. Students, you should all be able to accomplish by the end of class today. Please turn to page 309 and read the instructions carefully."

Not having been in class when the previous reading was assigned Melody knew absolutely nothing about human Transfiguration. The assignment sounded relatively simple, though. All she had to do was change the color of her eyebrows. McGonagall had even demonstrated, turning her dark brown ones a bright shade of turquoise.

"You didn't practice at all this weekend, did you?" asked Mary.

Melody picked up her mirror and sighed. "You really have to ask?"

Luckily, she wasn't the only one having difficulty with it. Some of her peers wound up burning their eyebrows off, others ended up with a unibrow or other weird facial hair. On Mary's first try her hair grew past her shoulders, curling into perfect spirals the second, and it turning bright red on the third. It was lovely but it didn't seem to suit her as well as her normal mousey brown bob.

Melody was sacred of what would happen when she tried so she took her time, rereading the instructions carefully and murmuring the incantation to herself to assure she would pronounce it right. About halfway through the class when a handful of students were had finally begun to get it right, Melody felt ready. She picked up her wand, feeling it tingle against her palm. She stared at the mirror and breathed out the incantation watching as her hair and eyebrows, surprisingly enough, turned inky black. It wasn't that big a difference from its usual chestnut brown but at least it was something.

"Well done, Ms. Corden," said Professor McGonagall approvingly as she walked down their row. "Try a more noticeable color next time, and focus solely on your eyebrows."

Melody could feel the urge to let out a very loud, very shrill fan girl squeal at having been spoken to by the one and only Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, but mustered up all her strength to keep quiet. She acknowledging her professor's constructive criticism with a slight bow of her head.

She changed her hair and eyebrows back to normal and begun reciting the incantation again feeling far more confident this time around. Midway through reciting the incantation she was overcome by an intense urge to sneeze. She held it back and stuttered out the last couple of syllables thinking it wouldn't make a difference. Of course she was wrong.

Her eyebrows stayed the same but her hair turned red like Mary's had. The difference was that it seemed to be on fire, floating around her head the way seaweed did underwater. It looked like a large, sparking red halo.

It was pretty and it didn't burn but, impressive as it was, Melody preferred her natural look. The problem was that as much as she tried it wouldn't go back to normal. As the minutes passed the flames grew hotter and began to smart the back of her neck.

"What did you do?" asked Mary wide-eyed, sounding half amused and half frightened.

"I sneezed!" she replied, panicking. "Do something, Mary!"

"AGUAMENTI!" sputtered Mary, directing her wand at Melody's head.

A jet of freezing water hit Melody square in the face leaving her absolutely drenched. There was laughter, there was humiliation; not anything Melody wasn't used to.

"Thanks, Mar," she said dryly, sinking low into her chair.

Mary mouthed her apology as McGonagall wrapped up the class and begun dismissing them.

Herbology wasn't any better. Like Transfiguration it had started off well only to end on a disastrous note. Melody hadn't been sure of what they were meant to have been doing or what kind of plants they were working with, only that they had probably been carnivorous. When she left the Greenhouses her robes were practically in shreds and her arms and face were littered with scratches.

"Today is not my day," she muttered grumpily. "I'll probably blow up the dungeons next."

"You're clever, but not _that_ clever," came a jovial voice from behind the girls as they walked into the Great Hall for the second time that day.

"Can't you be a little nicer to your dear baby sister?" Melody pouted, glaring up at her brother.

"Twin," he corrected.

"Technically older."

"By minutes."

She looked clean Neil over jealously, her gaze zeroing in on the little blue pin on his robes emblazoned by a silver, capital 'P.'

Figures, she thought. A Ravenclaw _and_ a prefect.

The greedy bastard had gotten all the good genes when they were in the womb: borderline genius intelligence, people skills, fabulous hair. The worst part about it was that he was also a fantastic, super sweet brother. He had never been mean to Melody, never teased or embarrassed her, and always helped her with Math which had been a weak subject since grade school. As much as she sometimes wanted to hate Neil for being the golden child she couldn't.

Melody couldn't hate anyone. It just wasn't in her wiring. She couldn't even hate her stupid ex-best friend Raquel Yannis who was the bane of her existence. When Neil started dating her, Melody could have convinced him not to. It would have been so easy to tell him about how Raquel repeatedly humiliated her when he wasn't around; it would have been reason enough for him to ditch her, but Melody kept quiet. She knew some might call her stupid or naive for it, but she begged to differ. She liked to think that there was good in everyone, even those who endeavored to make her life a living hell...like Raquel Yannis whom fate had mercifully left out of this fabulously odd universe.

"Who told you about it?" Melody asked him.

"Jamie, obviously" he chuckled, pointing at someone at the other end of the Gryffindor table. Melody couldn't tell who he meant. "Needn't worry about blasting the dungeons, though, we'll be there to keep an eye on you."

"Thank blog!" exclaimed Melody, wrapping her arms around Neil's waist.

"I wouldn't exactly be thanking me for that," he said, chuckling. "After all, it's my fault you're partnered with Black and not Mary."

He couldn't mean...? Could he?

He did.

Melody almost wished it wasn't true.

Keeping it cool in McGonagall's presence had been doable but sitting next to Sirius Black made it insanely difficult to keep the dying whale sounds at a minimum. He was just as, if not more, gorgeous than what she pictured when reading the book. Even though she was sitting no more than half a foot away from him he still didn't seem real. He was just too perfect, like he'd been sculpted by the gods (this was so not an exaggeration). It seemed silly and cliche to describe him as such but there were no other words she could think of. He even smelled amazing!

When he noticed Melody gawking at him he didn't call her out on it, just gave her a cocky smirk.

"Gonna set me on fire, too, Corden?" Sirius joked as she fumbled to collect the ingredients for the Amortentia they were supposed to brew.

"I'll try not too," she said sullenly.

She found it easier to concentrate on the incredibly complex process if she kept her eyes on what she was doing instead of on him. Her drool would no doubt ruin all their hard work.

"I'm only joking with you, darling," he said, patting her shoulder lightly.

His touch sent shivers down her spine and made her head go all fuzzy, a distraction which caused her to tip over a bottle of Black Beetle Eyes. She swore, collecting them one by one until Sirius had them all back in their proper place with a quick flick of his wand.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. You're having an off day, I get that."

Sirius took over then but took his sweet time, making small talk as he worked. Melody touched nothing but contributed by overlooking the process so that there would be no mistakes made. After a while Sirius had successfully lifted her spirits and made her completely forget about her terrible morning. Melody was laughing and answering his jokes with snarky remarks, no longer just leering at him like the rest of his admirers. She had noticed many of the girls in the dungeon glaring jealously at her which only made her laugh. After all, no one had ever been jealous of her.

In the end it turned out that Sirius was not a brilliant potion maker, just average. When Slughorn—who did indeed resemble a walrus—he told them it was a job well done, but that it could not be certain how effective it was unless it was tested.

"We don't have to, do we?" Melody asked nervously, biting down on her lower lip.

"What, afraid I'll have my filthy way with you?" chuckled Sirius, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Melody went scarlet and let out a string of incoherent babbling.

"Merlin, Corden, I'm only joking! If that's what you want you need only ask."

It seemed she had suddenly figured out the key to their dynamic. It was nothing too serious (no pun intended). She stopped her laughing, evened out her breathing then dryly replied, "I'll get back to on that, maybe in a decade or so."

"Ouch," he said with mock hurt, clutching his heart over-dramatically, "that hurt, darling. Really, it was brutal."

Slughorn cleared his throat. "Yes, well, job well done both of you."

Melody smiled proudly. "Thank you, sir."

"You hardly contributed!" exclaimed Sirius, pointing an accusing finger at her. "You don't get to hog all the credit!"

"He said, 'both of you,' genius."

"Oh." He turned back to Slughorn. "We pass?"

He nodded. "Also, Ms. Corden, can I count on seeing you and your brother at my little get-together this Friday evening?"

"Do we ever miss it, sir?" she said, flashing the professor a saccharine smile.

"Feel free to bring a date," he told her, his eyes darting towards Sirius, before he tottered away.

Sirius titled his head, smirking at Melody. "So... Friday?"


	3. Misfits and Marauders

**Disclaimer** I'm still waiting for the day I magically transform into J.K. Rowling. Until then, I own nothing.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Misfits and Marauders**

Sirius grinned widely as he watched Melody's face go red. His teeth were perfectly straight and white, and his canines were slightly more pointed than those of an average person; it made him look a bit like a vampire. A very hot vampire...and not the sparkly kind.

This was of absolutely no help to Melody. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, feigning immense interest in the contents of her textbook though there were no more than ten minutes left until the class ended. She was pretending she hadn't heard him speak and doing everything in her power to keep her focus away from him until Slughorn dismissed them.

He leaned over and whispered, "You're cute when you're nervous."

Melody's blush deepened to an impossibly dark shade bordering on purple, and her eyes went wide. She let out a small squeak letting her book fall shut with a loud thump.

Finally they were free to go. Melody crammed all her things back into her bag and slung it over her shoulder and made for the exit. But Sirius grabbed hold of her arm spinning her around towards him. His grin haven shrunken down to a cocky smirk.

"Sit with me and the lads at dinner, Corden." His voice was smooth and alluring. His grey eyes were brilliant and bore into her murky brown ones with intensity. He was not trying to intimidate her, rather he wanted to make it clear he was not asking her as a joke or out of pity.

Melody found it strange that someone like Sirius Black would want anything to do with her. He who was so popular and intelligent and full of all-around perfectness in print and in the flesh. Melody too was beautiful, and she knew it...when she was by herself. Years of teasing and taunting about her every miniscule imperfection had left her scarred. She knew she was pretty and smart and a good person but as no one had ever seemed to take enough notice of her good qualities to value them, she preferred to keep away from the spotlight. But this was her chance to change all that. She could start anew...and hadn't she done so already? Hadn't she joked and talked amiably with this very boy only moments earlier?

"Um...I don't—M-Mary—I can't—she—" she stuttered nervously, her eyes darting to the doorway were Mary waited looking as impatient as she did intrigued.

"Bring Macdonald with you. The more the merrier, right?" He cocked his head to the side which vaguely reminded Melody of the puppy she'd had growing up: a brown Yorkie she and Neil had named Science, after their then favorite subject.

"A-are you sure?" she asked, fiddling with the sleeves of her robes. "You haven't, like, confused me with someone else, have you? Because you wouldn't believe how often that happens to me and it's really annoying you know because it gets my hopes up and then they're all, 'Sorry, I meant that girl behind you.'"

"Not unless your not Melody Corden but a girl that looks freakishly similar to her," he chuckled. "Is it a yes?"

"Sure," she said with a small sigh, "but if this is some sort of prank I swear on my iPod I'll kill you in your sleep."

"There she is!" He grinned, ruffling her hair. Melody rolled her eyes. "There's the Corden I know and love!"

"Hey, Corden?" said Sirius, stopping her just as she reached Mary. "What's an iPod?"

She hadn't noticed her little future-speak slip, but at least it was something which could easily be fixed.

"A futuristic mind-control device," she said with absolute seriousness. "In a couple of decades most of us won't be able to live without it."

"You're mad."

Now it was her turn to grin. "So I've been told."

~OooOooO~

Melody and Mary had gone back up to their dormitory to drop off their things before dinner. As they walked down the corridor Melody earned a number of murderous glares from the girls they passed. She could hear the whispers, every one about her. All too used to being gossiped about she tried her best to ignore it, but Mary was making it nearly impossible to.

"Sirius Black asked you out!" cried Mary in giddy disbelief. "Do you know what that means?"

"That I have to hire someone to taste my food before I eat it?" she snorted. "He didn't _mean_ it. It was just a joke." She stopped, spinning around on her heel to confront the stalkers that had been trailing them since they left Gryffindor Tower. "You hear that, you lunatics? I'M NOT GOING OUT WITH SIRIUS BLACK, SO STOP PLOTTING MY MURDER!"

The group of startled fifth years immediately dispersed and Melody released a breath of relief. She hadn't even had dinner with Sirius and it was already this bad, she couldn't imagine how bad things would get after she did. And if by chance he did happen to ask her out she would have to spend the remainder of her time in the wizarding world sleeping with one eye open. Not that he would. She wasn't his type. Blondie, the roommate, now that girl was the Sirius Black-type.

"If he didn't ask you out, then why does he want you to sit with him and his mates at dinner?" asked Mary, sounding superior. She was the only girl untroubled by this development which was a relief. Melody sure as hell didn't need the drama of her only friend turning on her when she most needed her.

_Been there, done that,_ thought Melody, Raquel immediately coming to mind. But she had to believe that Mary was nothing like Raquel, otherwise what difference would it make what reality she found herself in?

"He _fancies you_, Mels. He has for ages but you've always been too thick to notice. Why else would he even think about going to one of Slughorn's parties?"

"You're going, too, aren't you?"

"No," Mary snorted. "You know I'm not part of the oh-so illustrious Slug Club."

"Oh, I thought Neil would have asked you by now."

"And why in Merlin's name would he do that?" she sputtered nervously, going completely red.

Melody grinned, elbowing her flustered companion's side. "I saw the sparks flying in Potions and the Amortentia had nothing to do with it."

"Weren't you too busy drooling over your boyfriend?" Mary retorted cheekily, fully recovered.

"He's NOT my boyfriend!" she whined, stomping childishly. "And I was not drooling!"

"I don't blame you. He is totally gorgeous."

Melody chose not to comment, not that she had been able to hide her lack of immunity to the Marauder's good looks. Yes, he was handsome but everyone knew that. She wasn't all that comfortable about considering the possibility that he wanted a relationship with her since she hardly knew him. It would be as meaningless as a drunken hookup if she didn't really know what kind of person he was. Sure, from what she remembered from the books Melody knew he was adventurous and reckless, fiercely loyal to his friends...but he could also be a jerk and hold grudges. She had absolutely no way of knowing what he was like with girlfriends. It was safer if she kept clear of romantic territory as a whole in this world since things were complicated enough already.

Taking a deep, long breath she followed Mary to where Sirius and his friends waited, ignoring the stares that followed them as they walked.

_You'd think I was headed for the gallows._

If seating was anything to go by then Melody could most definitely assume she and they were complete opposite. Whereas she and Mary always sat in the same spot nearest the doors, the boys sat right in front of the teacher's table.

It was the strangest thing to behold. They were all smiles and jokes as they shoveled food from their plates to their mouths, like real teenage boys. They _were_ real teenage boys, not just a product of her imagination anymore. And they were so young; she had been half-expecting to see them all as thirty-somethings, even Sirius.

They seemed so approachable which was surprising. Maybe, Melody thought hopefully, they could friends. Here, in this world, she could allow herself to dream about these things. Back home it would have been unthinkable to approach some of the most popular boys at school even with an invitation.

"Long time no see, Mels," said the one with glasses, looking up from his plate. His hair was as dark as Sirius's but almost as untamed as Melody's, sticking up in all directions. Being his glasses his lovely hazel eyes were full of warmth as he greeted both girls. "Haven't been avoiding us, have you?"

Melody shook her head meekly as she and Mary sunk down between Sirius and the chubby blonde boy she could only assume was Peter Pettigrew. It made her anxious so being close to the latter given all that she knew about him. He didn't look the type to go bad but knew he ultimately would, feeling he had no other choice. He had a sweet face despite its vaguely rat-like features, and he seemed so pleased to be there. It made no sense at all, and Melody found herself battling with her emotions every time her gaze fell upon the boy: a mixture of pity and hatred that turned her stomach.

"Why so quiet?" asked Sirius.

"Tired," she sighed.

"It's not been her best day," added Mary, looking pleased as punch about being included in this exclusive circle. Unlike Melody who dreaded all the attention they were getting, Mary obviously loved it and was intent on making the best of it.

"We heard," said Peter "Good thing we've only got a few days till hols, eh?"

"Thank God. I feel like I've gotten a thorough ass-kicking."

James snorted, flicking a spoonful of peas at Melody. "Always a big ball of sunshine aren't you, Pinky?"

Melody groaned and begun stabbing aimlessly at her plate. "You're still calling me that? My hair hasn't been pink since I was thirteen."

She hadn't thought about replying, she just suddenly found the words flowing from her mouth to their own accord. She didn't even know where it had come from, or if what she said was true. It was kind of scary to think she might not be in total control of her actions in this place. What if she was being Imperioed? She had no way of knowing.

"I completely forgot about that phase!" laughed Mary. "God, you were so cool back then!"

"What happened?" joked Peter and to her complete surprise Melody found herself laughing.

"She stopped hanging around us, that's what," said Sirius, draping his arm over Melody's shoulders, giving a dramatic pout. "She's become sensible."

"That's no fun at all." James frowned. "Before we know it she'll be as boring as Moony."

"Cheers," said the boy beside James dryly. His voice was low and hoarse, possessing an entirely different accent than those of the other boys, a far heavier one but not like Mary's; it wasn't Scottish.

"We say it with love, Moons."

Moony. This was Remus Lupin, her absolute favorite character in the _Harry Potter_ series. Her excitement surpassed that which normal fangirling could express and she was temporarily struck mute, so she just sat there staring at him with immense fascination.

As far as looks went he was just slightly above average, not indisputably goregeous like Sirius or boyishly handsome like James. Even sitting she could tell he was the tallest of the four, and the thinnest. He had an awkwardness to his posture that reminded Melody of herself; the way he hunched over to try to blend and shift attention away from himself. Even his hair was used as a shield, falling over his face in shaggy light brown waves thus concealing the top-half of his face. It wasn't enough to completely hide the scars, though. There were tons of them, most tiny and nearly faded, all over the visible patches of his skin. A long recently healed gash ran across his the length of his right cheek which made Melody wonder when the last full moon had been. She also wondered how he managed to get through the transformations month after month, year after year, when it was obviously an excruciating process. She felt sorry for him and wished she could help him...but she didn't know how to make the Wolfsbane Potion and it had yet to be invented in this time.

_Poor thing._

"You're staring at me," said Remus suddenly, breaking Melody from her thoughts.

She noticed his look of annoyance and embarrassment and quickly shifted her gaze onto her food which lay in a mushed heap on her plate. She really wasn't hungry at all anymore.

"S-sorry," she muttered, feeling her face growing hot, "it's just—you—I think you're—Never mind."

"Sure you're all right?" asked James after an awkward beat of silence.

She nodded, taking a small scoop of mashed potatoes into her mouth. "Just tired," she reiterated. "Don't worry about it."

This seemed a good enough answer for everyone, and with that the atmosphere relaxed quite a bit. As they ate they talked about their plans for the upcoming weeks away from the castle which were all very standard. Sirius would be staying with the Potters who had decided on arranging a modest little get-together for the Marauders and whomsoever they wished to invite. Through this conversation Melody learned that her family was very close to James's and that they had known each other way before they were even at Hogwarts. Childhood friends. It was strange, like everything else that had happened so far, but not that unbelievable. She could see how she and James were close, he was almost like Neil in the way he interacted with her; at least, she definitely got an older brother sort of vibe from him.

Of the four Marauders she was obviously closest to James though Sirius followed closely in second. Judging from Peter's jittery and awkward behavior which the boys found stranger than usual Melody suspected he fancied both her and Mary—he probably fancied any girl who smiled at him, poor thing. Remus's behavior was the most disappointing to Melody for he spoke very little to her and tried his best to avoid looking in her direction. They weren't very close, that much was obvious, but she hoped they would grow closer since she very much wanted to get to know him above all else. She was sure that she would have found him interesting even without having read the books, even if she had known absolutely nothing about him, because he just had an indescribable quality that demanded her attention and roused her curious nature.

Throughout the remainder of dinner Melody continued to sneak glances at Remus, careful not to get caught again. He didn't look particularly unhappy just uncomfortable, and it was probably due to their new company. She could understand that. Remus Lupin was hardly one to open up given his unfortunate situation, and new people probably made him nervous. Melody longed to reach out to him and tell him she knew his secret and that it didn't matter to her, that what he was would not affect her judgement of his character, but she remained silent. Confessing even part of her knowledge of this world and these people in particular would stir up to many questions and put her in a dangerous situation. With time, perhaps, if she got closer to them all she could 'discover' the truth behind Remus Lupin's monthly absences.

"—are you, Mels?"

Her head snapped up at the sound of her name and she reddened having been caught spacing out again. "Sorry?"

"Sirius just said he's taking you to Slughorn's party Friday night?"

"You're not serious, are you?" she asked the black-haired boy beside her.

"I always am," he replied, chuckling at his own joke.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

"I thought that was a joke!" she said, the alarm still not having left her voice.

"Why would I joke about asking you out?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"Because you are _you_." Melody motioned to him, looking at him with utter disbelief. "And I am _me_."

"Is it really so hard to believe that I'd want to go out?"

"_YES!_"

Sirius laughed a charming laugh and ran his hands through his hair. His nonchalance irritated Melody to no end. He should have been freaking out just as she was, trying to sort out this misunderstanding. It was supposed to be nothing more than a misunderstanding!

"We'll go as friends if it'll make you more comfortable." He shrugged, and Melody felt slightly more relaxed. Only slightly. "I just thought you'd like going with someone other than James for once, especially after the incident last year."

She didn't even want to ask about it. Whatever it was must have had something to do with a certain red-haired girl he was hopelessly obsessed with. Lily Evans.

Of course, even in this universe, Melody would have been kid enough to grant James entrance into the Slug Club's exclusive parties so he could get close to Evans. She really was a great friend.

"I did apologize," said James defensively.

"But you spilled the bowl of punch you and Mels had spiked with Firewhiskey on her right afterwards," Remus laughed softly.

I was the longest comment he made all evening, everything else had been monosyllabic when it wasn't just a nod or hand gesture.

"I didn't mean to! I told her it was an accident!"

"Not that she believed you," said Peter, guzzling his pudding.

James slammed his head down on the table letting out a muffled groan.

Sirius turned back to Melody with such an earnest expression that she was momentarily startled by it. "Let me go with you, Corden," he pleaded gently, his thumb circling lightly over the back of her hand.

In just that brief moment he looked so innocent, so like a child anxiously awaiting a long sought after present. It didn't make any sense at all, but he wasn't really giving her a choice. All the air seemed to be trapped within her chest and she felt dizzy as with a small nod she replied, "All right."

~OooOooO~

Now that she was expecting the death glares to double Melody had a much easier time ignoring them. She heard the whispers but tried her best not to pay attention to them by pretending they were in a language she couldn't understand. Her high school in the real world had provided excellent preparation for these forced-into-the-spotlight moments she so dreaded, and now she was using all her best tricks to keep calm and carry on as usual.

At least no one had actively tried to kill her yet, that was always a good thing. And she didn't really have to worry about her roommates since Mary was all for it and Blondie seemed indifferent as always. Melody doubted Lily would care since she disliked Sirius almost as much as she disliked James, and the other roommate, a cute Asian girl with long black hair whose name she still didn't know had a boyfriend—she and Mary caught them devouring each other near the Fat Lady's portrait.

It was mostly the younger girls she had to keep an eye on, they were the ones who still had wild delusions that Sirius Black would suddenly and miraculously realize his feelings and confess his undying love to them. To them Melody was nothing but an obstacle that had to be dealt with immediately. Melody wouldn't have found it half as frightening if they didn't possess magical abilities and knowledge about said abilities that far surpassed her own. She just couldn't win.

After the day she had had Melody was in great need of a hot shower. A very hot one at that. So she dug out all her bath things from her trunk along with a fresh set of pajamas and locked herself in the bathroom.

She hadn't realized how much she missed solitude until the warm, relaxing spray fell over her bare skin. Every tense muscle in her body instantly turned to jelly, and she felt her spirits lift as the small room filled with steam and the heavy scent of her vanilla body wash. As she scrubbed herself clean she began to hum one tune after another, never really finishing any. She missed her iPod; a lot of the music she loved didn't exist in this world yet and the wireless in the common room didn't play much muggle music.

Eventually she began to sing and wiggle about along to the music playing in her head. She wasn't a particularly good singer but she wasn't so bad to make anyone's ear bleed either, and when she knew she was completely alone she could allow herself to sing at top volume. Rusty as she was, she was unable to hit certain notes but that only made her laugh.

_That's why she sleeps with one eye open  
That's the price she'll pay_

I said, hey, girl with one eye  
Get your filthy fingers out of my pie...*

Melody continued to sing even after she turned the water off. The same song over and over again expecting the dormitory to be as empty as it was when she had arrived but to her absolute horror found everyone there.

Blissful solitude over.

"Where did you hear that song?" asked Blondie, eyeing Melody as if she were afraid she'd attack her.

Melody shrugged, trying not to look as embarrassed as she felt about having been caught singing. "Dunno," she lied. "It just stuck with me. Strange, no?"

"Lyrically, though I suppose it does have a nice tune." Melody's head darted to her right, her eyes falling on the ever-illusive Lily Evans.

There was nothing amazing about her pajamas which were just as boring as the other girls' but even with her head tied back into a messy knot she still managed to look beautiful. She sat on her bed cross-legged with books and parchment scattered all around her, hard at work as one would expect the Prefect to be.

"I don't think we should be hiding all sharp objects just yet," she said jokingly. "At least not from Melody. It's the fifth years we should be worrying about. Unless it's not true?"

"Oh, it is," chimed Mary, snorting as Melody's stricken face.

"You're dating Sirius Black?"

"No." Melody's mouth felt dry. She thought she'd be able to avoid this matter in her dormitory but she was obviously wrong. "We're going as friends. To Slughorn's party, I mean."

Blondie scoffed. "Black doesn't do anything with girls 'as friends.' He's looking to get something out it."

Melody could feel her panic rising. As hot as she found Sirius Black she wasn't about to jump into bed with him just like that. She wasn't that kind of girl and felt offended that Blondie would find her so weak and susceptible to the Black charm as to agree to such a thing.

"Her brother would kill him if he tried anything funny," said Mary confidently. "So would Potter."

"That's true," the Asian girl agreed. (Melody really needed to find out what her and Blondie's names were) "And Neil's just as good a dueler as Black. Jun thinks Neil could easily beat him."

But there were still the psycho fan girls to deal with. They wouldn't care if they were 'just friends' or not. They would attack, Melody was sure of it and she prayed Neil would be there when they did.

* * *

**A/N:** The next chapter skips to Friday and Sluggy's Christmas party, it will also include more flashbacks to the Riley Palmer party as Melody slowly continues to regain her memory of that night. And I feel I should give you all a heads up about the ships which are as of yet not as set as they were in the original. Melody's not in love with anyone...yet, she and Sirius are not dating (though they might) and Remus, he's...important? I don't really know what more I can tell you guys without completely spoiling what I've got planned next.

As always thanks so much for reading and I sincerely hope you all continue to do so. As I'm taking three Poli Sci courses at the moment (which are totally kicking my ass, by the way) I'm not sure how frequently I'll be able to update but I'll try my best to keep it regular and not have too-long periods between chapters. Just keep the faith for me, you guys, and feel free to leave me a review.

*I haven't forgotten that I've set the year Melody comes from as 2007, but just absolutely luuuurrrrvvve Florence + the Machine and find myself listening to that music A LOT as I write so I couldn't help slipping those lyrics in there. The original version of "Girl with One Eye" by The Ludes is really good as well. They're both on Youtube if any of you are interested.


	4. We Illustrious Few

**Chapter 4: We Illustrious Few**

"Who's your date for tonight?" asked Melody as she and Neil walked around the castle, unsure of what to do with their free hour before Arithmancy (the subject which Melody had quickly learned to loathe with a fiery passion which far surpassed that previously held for Calculus).

"I'm not going," he replied, flooring her.

"What do you mean you're not going? You have to go!"

Her obvious panic puzzled him since she never took these Slug Club events at all seriously and neither than he. Why was it so important to her all of the sudden?

"It's not my thing, Mels, you know that. Besides," he added, a slight blush tinging his cheeks, "I haven't got anyone to go with."

Melody eyed him incredulously, waiting for him to tell her he was joking but he never did. This was definitely news to her. Ever since everyone their age started pairing off Neil had never gone without a girlfriend. Obviously things were very different here. More different than she had initially thought.

"Mary's going with Evans," he explained. "Told me so this morning."

"What? Why?"

_How didn't I know about this?_, thought Melody, feeling both hurt and perplexed.

"Jamie scared off all of her potential dates, as always, and Costello and Tam are 'busy' apparently." Taking a seat on a nearby bench he ran his hands through his hair, letting out a shaky, frustrated sigh. "Does she...Does Mary ever talk about me?"

Realization dawned on Melody and it made her go all warm and fuzzy inside. Sure it would be a huge cliche if her brother and best friend got together, but a welcomed one. It made sense that he had given up when he found out Mary was no longer free for the evening because he didn't want to go with anyone but her. How sweet!

"Sure she does." Big fat lie. Here she was getting her hopes up when she had absolutely no clue if Neil's feelings were reciprocated. "Thinks you're really cool. But back to tonight—can't you go stag? Please, Neil, for me? You can't leave me alone with Sirius."

Neil's lips twitched upward and he nodded, admitting defeat. "I still don't know why agreed to go with him. Didn't you say you'd ask Lupin to go with you just last week?"

"Why would I do that? The man hardly speaks to me," she grumbled sulkily, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.

In that entire week Remus J. Lupin had spoken to her a grand total of four times...in monosyllables. He had hardly looked at her or acknowledged her when she greeted him, and it frustrated the hell out of Melody. Not that she had expected this world to be perfect but it didn't seem fair that all the Marauders loved her except the one she was most eager to get to know. For some inexplicable reason he just didn't like her, so what on Earth would compel Neil to believe they could ever go anywhere together?

"Yeah, what's up with that? Have you two had a row?"

"I'm not—I don't know." She really didn't and yet Neil looked at her as though he wasn't convinced by her answer. So she went in another direction. "Is it...uncommon? Us not talking?"

"Course it is. You've been just as close to him as Mary—if not more—for the past five years. I was sure you two would fancy each other by now."

"I do _not_ like Lupin," Melody insisted firmly. The very idea was too weird. She admired him as a character, though he was cool, and sure he was cute but she could say the same thing about James and that didn't mean she liked him. She didn't like anyone, not even Sirius. She wouldn't let herself like anyone in this place when she wasn't even sure how long her being there would last. For all she knew she could disappear in a matter of seconds and find herself in her room, realizing this was a long, exhausting, elaborate dream. Highly unlikely, but she still hadn't ruled it out entirely. "I could never fancy him or date him. It would be too weird."

"But dating Black, that's not the slightest bit weird?"

"I'm not dating him!" she snapped for the billionth time that week, annoyed that this stupid bit of gossip had still not gotten old. "I don't intend on dating him, either. _Ever._ Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Because he's Sirius Black and you're you," laughed Neil. "Neither of you are capable of the 'just friends' thing. But since you insist I suppose I can go and defend you from that womanizing cur...and his crazed harem."

Melody groaned, her mind drifting unwelcomely to the fifth years who had made her already hellish first week even worse by trying to kill her at every possible moment. After Wednesday she made sure not to roam the castle alone, knowing they were less prone to strike if she were in another's company. They were especially intimidated by Mary who took no buffoonery from them and did not hesitate to hex them if they so much glanced derisively in Melody's direction. She had thought to question why Melody didn't fight back herself but figured the stress they caused, had pushed her off the brink. It certainly explained the odd behavior.

It wouldn't have been that much of a problem if she was Lyra Costello. The fifth years could understand how Sirius could go with a girl like Lyra who was beautiful, leggy, golden-haired, and the right kind of curvy. They could handle Blondie taking their idol because it was what they expected. They refused to lose him to short, frizzy, big-bummed Melody Corden with that temper of hers and her recent freak outs. She, in their book, wasn't nearly good enough which is why they tried to scare her away. It didn't matter that Melody 'claimed' they weren't going out because she was obviously lying.

"Thanks, Neil."

* * *

The girl in the mirror was not what Melody had hoped to see though it was what should have been expected given her miserable week. Her hair was a bigger tangled mess than usual and with the dark circles around her eyes she looked something akin to a rabid raccoon. She was exhausted, and it wasn't just the difficult classes and dodging the Sirius-obsessed fifth years that had it out for her. What did it for her were the dreams which kept her from the peaceful sleep she so desperately craved every night. They weren't bad dreams, per se, just memories but something about them tugged at her thoughts making it impossible to relax. Melody was certain there was something deeply significant about them that might have been the key to why she woke up so far away from home.

"You look awful."

"We can't all be pretty, Mary," she sighed petulantly, glaring at her friend through the mirror, as struggled to detangle her unruly hair.

She was on her second comb, having snapped the first. She wouldn't use a brush because it would only make her frizz poof out to the sides. It made her almost wish Lily hadn't caught the psychos trying to shave her head the previous night. Almost.

Despite the trouble and frustration, she liked her hair most days. Just not at that very moment.

"I meant that you look tired," Mary clarified. "No sleep again?"

"Nope. Though I did manage a lovely nap in Hist—" She cursed loudly having yanked out a large clump of hair out of the side of her head. Her eyes watered and she fanned herself furiously to keep from ruining her eye makeup.

"Oh, honestly!" tutted Mary with an exasperated eye roll. She forced the comb out of Melody's hand and threw it out of her reach, producing her wand. "You call yourself a witch."

With a slight flick of the wrist and a softly muttered incantation Melody saw her hair completely transform. In an instant it smoothed into shiny, glamourous waves that tumbled delicately down her back. It looked so good—the sort of thing she had only seen on red carpet shows—that she almost wanted to cry.

"You are an angel," she gushed, pulling Mary into a crushing hug. "Where did you learn that?"

"Witch Weekly," she said, shrugging. "I though it might interest you so I dog-eared the page. It's in my trunk but you take a look at it later."

Mary took a step back and looked over Melody with a critical eye, nodding her approval. Their dress robes were the same in design but different in color; Mary's deep blue, Melody's scarlet. They had an intricate gold pattern that weaved and twisted all around the silken fabric which was complimented by gold accessories.

"You sure it's not a date?" asked Mary skeptically.

"Absolutely positive."

"Black might not think so."

"The dark circles around my eyes even it out," said Melody dryly.

"If you say so."

Sirius was downright speechless when Melody, Mary and Lily met him outside Slughorn's office where the party was already in full swing. He gawked shamelessly at his date, eyes lingering a bit too long on some areas more than others—not her face for which Melody was only mildly relieved.

"Corden, you look—_wow_." She couldn't help but blush. It wasn't everyday one was complimented by Sirius Black. Especially not where she came from. "Job well done."

"Same to you, Black," she said softly, suddenly overcome by shyness.

It just wasn't fair how good he looked. Girls weren't supposed to be jealous of boys, but everything looked perfect on him and Melody began feeling self-conscious. She probably looked plain beside him while he could be covered head to toe in mud and still manage to make it look good. Did he not possess even one physical flaw? Okay...so his eyes were a tad small, especially compared to what Melody typically liked on a guy, but it worked on him. Definitely.

"Shall we join the festivities?"

Sirius nodded, wrapping his arm around Melody's waist, drawing her close as they crossed the threshold. Behind them Mary and Lily sniggered as she wiggled out of his grasp, punching his arm none too lightly. If he wanted her company he would have to respect her personal space.

"Are we going to have to set up boundaries? We're here as friends, remember?"

"Good friends?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Melody rolled her eyes. "Satisfy your pervy needs on James. With all that pent up sexual frustration I'm sure he'd be more than obliging."

"I do love that smart mouth of yours, Corden," he said, his voice low and husky, smirking down at her licentiously. "You ever though about putting it to better use?"

She shifted uncomfortably, her eyes desperately scanning the room for Neil with no success. Her brain was too fuzzy for a witty comeback, so she sidestepped away from him, keeping him at a distance with her hand against his chest, and weakly said, "Behave."

He pulled an innocent face. "Don't I always?"

"This isn't a date," she reminded him as he took her hand, leading her through the crowd.

"It doesn't have to be for us to have a little fun." Her pulse was racing. If he kept this up she didn't think she was strong enough to keep herself from giving him what he wanted. It was her greatest flaw. Her other knew it, Neil knew it, and Raquel had managed to use it against her. A pretty word here, a smile there and she was gone. "Live a little, Corden."

* * *

_She had lost Neil ages ago. He would no doubt be looking for her in ever unlocked room expecting the worst, expecting to find her tangled with some drunken stranger about to do something incredibly stupid. He wasn't the preachy type, Neil, since he was just as active as any of their contemporaries but he had control over his impulse and how he satisfied them. Melody who was so broken, so self-pitying, gave in far too easily. She wanted to feel loved, wanted by someone who wasn't a family member. She wanted to be kissed and touched and appreciated. It wouldn't make it real but she could believe it was as it happened._

But she wasn't hooking up. She was drinking and she was dancing. Keeping a firm grip on her fourth rum and Coke as she danced provocatively against Riley Palmer himself letting his hands roam where they pleased.

It was fun. Nothing more, nothing less. And Neil wasn't there to put a stop to it which made it even better.

"Your boyfriend doesn't seem to happy with me," Riley chuckled in her ear.

Puzzled, Melody followed Riley's line of sight and saw the vague outline of a guy leaning against the wall, half in the shadows. She hadn't worn her glasses and forgotten to put in her contacts, the air was too thick with smoke to make out who it was, only that he was too tall and too thin to be her brother. Besides, Riley knew and was friends with Neil so he wouldn't call him Melody's boyfriend even as a joke.

Knowing that someone was actively watching her thrilled her so she didn't contradict Riley, instead she smirked and said, "Let him."

With her back to Riley's chest Melody upped the ante. Grinding against him, dipping, touching him, keeping her eyes locked on the mysterious figure straight ahead, silently beckoning him to her. He did not budge, just watched in amusement, or so Riley said (Melody couldn't really tell).

This went on for two more songs until she finally lost him and went to get another drink. Her head was feeling heavy and it was getting harder to think straight so she decided it was time to find Neil and go home. The problem was she had no clue where he was.

She looked in all the places he would have looked for him, walking in on a number of couples, but could not find him. She looked out by the pool but still no sight of Neil. He couldn't have left without her...

"You're not supposed to be here," a hoarse voice whispered teasingly in her ear, interrupting her worried thoughts.

Melody spun around startled. Looking up at him her brain immediately registered its recognition. It was the new boy, the Senior, that had moved into the apartment across the hall from hers a month earlier. She had never spoken to him nor hear him speak but she knew from all the gossip that his name was Milo Ward.

"Oh?" she challenged. "I have just as much right as anyone to be here!"

"You weren't invited."

How could he possibly know that? How could he know that Riley had only invited Neil and Melody had simply begged him to go so she could tag along?

"And you were?" There was a smugness to his lopsided grin which angered her. It was obvious he hadn't. "Didn't think you'd be the partying type."

"Think about me a lot, do you?" Melody rolled her eyes. "To be honest the only reason I came is because I thought there'd be a good chance I'd see you here."

His words had left her dumbfounded and sudden shyness had overcome him. He gazed down at her sheepishly, searching her face for something though she didn't know what.

Why? Why would anyone ever want to see her? Especially this Senior who never hung out with anyone. He wasn't friends with any of these people or anyone, for that matter. At school he was a loner which people thought was mysterious rather than depressing like they did when they talked about her. Melody knew it was only because he had moved from somewhere "cool." Some said Paris or New York, others said Dublin. No one knew for sure. And the Cordens never saw him or his mother around the building other than when they got their mail or did laundry. Melody had always been too shy to introduce herself.

That was the thing about Milo Ward. He was tall and awkward but weirdly intimidating. He didn't fit anywhere but couldn't care less. It was the mystery that made him fascinating, and made him the perfect target for juicy rumors. The wildest one inspired by the scar that ran across his right cheek said that he and and his mom were on the run from the mafia. Supposedly that explained the scar and the fact that he never mentioned his father, but Melody never believed that. It was too ridiculous to be true.

She looked at him, overcome by the strongest sense of deja vu, and struggled to find her voice. She wanted to ask him something, but she didn't know what, only that it felt important.

"See you around, Corden."

It was there by the pool that everything changed, she just didn't realize it.

* * *

Melody had never been so bored in her life as she was that hour and a half she spent at Slughorn's party. It turned out that once Sirius eased up on the innuendo and overly friendly touching he wasn't very much fun. Melody actually missed arguing with him and him being all civil and accommodating was plain strange. They lost each other in the crowd after Slughorn shuffled them from one side of the room to the other introducing them to a ridiculous number of people, all of which Melody had never heard of. Eventually she managed to sneak away from her professor, hiding in one of the darker and less populated corners of the place.

She wanted to leave. She was tired, her feet ached in the ridiculously high-heeled shoes she had chosen to wear, and the bizarre dim red glow from the lamp hung from the ceiling was starting to give her a migraine. She was sorely tempted to go back to the dormitory and sleep but she couldn't ditch Sirius. It was as she searched for her missing date that she ran into him. Not Sirius, but—

"L-Lupin!" she stuttered before mumbling her apology. How she should have been paying attention to where she was going and had he seen Sirius?

"I haven't," he said, running a hand through his messy hair. "not all evening."

His dress robes looked a lot like Sirius's only shabbier; clearly second-hand. He managed to wear them well though he was clearly not accustomed to formal wear. He seemed as uncomfortable as Melody felt. Why was it so hard to talk to him? Neil had said she and Remus were very good friends but it didn't feel like it. The unease between them at that moment was almost tangible. Her urge to make a dash for the exit was stronger that ever.

"Oh." Melody tucked her hair behind her ear and untucked it repeatedly. A nervous habit she had never been able to rid herself off. Whenever she was nervous or she lied, it was this that gave her away. "What are you doing here?"

"Beth Andrews asked me to come with her," he said cautiously as if he were afraid his answer would make Melody explode. "It's not a date," he insisted, "and I know I should have told you, I know you must be upset at me for avoiding you but since she and Neil just broke up I wasn't sure how you would take it. It's not like she gave me a choice, you know? Somehow she made me feel really guilty about it. I didn't want to be here."

She blinked up at him surprised. It was the most she had gotten out of him all week and was thrilled by this huge sign of progress. She wanted to talk to him, wanted to get to know him. Oh, she had so many questions for him!

"I had meant to ask you but never got around to it. My fault I guess," she said. "I'm not upset. Actually, I thought _you_ were upset with _me_."

He smiled down at her apologetically. "Of course not, Melody. I don't think I'd ever be upset with you."

She felt relieved but embarrassed about having jumped to paranoid conclusions about him not liking her almost to the point of hate. "I—um—I should probably find Sirius. These lights," she said, groaning softly.

"You lost your glasses again, didn't you?" Remus chuckled. "Dim lights always give you a migraine without them."

"I'm not pretty when I wear them," said Melody, thinking it a perfectly reasonable explanation for going around partially blind. She hadn't lost her glasses but she hated wearing the pair she had in this world. Though they were much more comfortable than the ones she owned back home they were identical to James's and with her too-large eyes they made her look like a startled owl.

"You're always pretty. Load of people think you are."

"Thanks," she murmured shyly, feeling her cheeks redden. "I should..."

Melody made to leave before Remus noticed her blushing but found that she was stuck to the place where she stood. "Why can't I move my feet?" she asked, a hint of panic to her voice.

Remus's eyes darted upward and he visibly blanched. "Mistletoe," he replied quietly.

Surely enough there was the innocent looking plant hanging directly above their heads. Melody flushed again, feeling her mouth suddenly going dry. She could feel her heart pounding a hard, steady beat in her chest and could hear it in her ears.

If anything, this would be the cherry on top of a horrific week. She never understood why these embarrassing things only seemed to happen to her while everyone else went about their lives with comparative ease.

"D-do you think—Could y-you maybe h-help me out?"

He nodded, his expression unreadable. "I just find Sirius and te–"

"No!" she protested. "I don't want to kiss _him_!"

She COULD NOT kiss Sirius. No. Absolutely not. She didn't want to start having feelings for him and that would surely happen considering she already had a hard time not drooling all over him. No. It had to be anyone but Sirius.

Still she panicked thinking Remus might have misunderstood what she meant and said, "Not that I want to kiss _you_, either. I don't mean you aren't kissable or anything. I'm sure you are, but I just don't want to kiss anyone now and, given the situation, it would be like kill-me-now awkward but I can't stay here forev-"

Remus's lips had cut off Melody's babbling. It wasn't a big deal or anything. Lip to lip contact, no movement. Very chaste. But it was strange because it made Melody's head go all fuzzy, and she found she couldn't form a coherent thought other than how soft his lips were. For some reason—maybe the whole werewolf thing—she thought they would be chapped. Not that she had done much thinking about Remus Lupin's lips but it was logical to think his skin would be rough given the countless number of scars he had received over the years.

She wasn't sure how to react and so she stood stock still, not even daring to breathe. She hadn't realized she had closed her eyes until she was forcing herself not to open them.

Then it was over.

"Th-thank y-you," she said shakily, staring down at his shoes as he pulled her forward a bit, away from the mistletoe.

His arms hadn't let go of her shoulders when he said, "Sure."

And they stood there staring at each other unable to say anything else. Melody, though, was relieved that nothing had changed. She wasn't seeing him in a different light and wasn't suddenly in love with him, she didn't even want to kiss him again. It was surprising, that was all.

"There you are!" The sound of the sickly sweet childlike voice startled Melody and Remus causing them to jump away from each other immediately. "I've been looking for you for ages!" she giggled, flipping her long golden hair.

Melody's blood went cold and it was like all the happiness had been sucked away from the world. But it was not a dementor which stood before them (no matter how much Melody likened her to one), it was queen bitch supreme: Raquel Yannis.

"Shit."

* * *

**A/N:** I'm not really loving this chapter but I went through various versions and this was the one I could live with. Also please bear in mind that I haven't 100% edited this chapter yet (though I will get to it. Soon, I hope.) I pretty much just wanted to get through the information revealed in this one and move on to the next since I feel the story is pretty slow so far. It gets better, I promise. Don't give up just yet. I know I'm not. Reviews would be lovely but mostly I'm just glad that there are people reading this so thank you very much. Until next chapter, so long and thanks for all the fish!

~ Melissa


	5. Don't Panic

**Chapter 5: Don't Panic**

Raquel Yannis was known as Bethany Andrews in this world. Melody had been friends with her for enough years to know that Bethany was her first name and Andrews was her father's last name; clearly her parents weren't divorced here. Other than the name she was the same girl Melody remembered her to be: statuesque with long blond hair and big brown eyes, perfect skin, perfect boobs, perfect ass, perfect just-pouty-enough lips. She was flawless as she was relentless.

Beneath the obvious beauty there had always been something deeply unsettling about her, and Melody was not the only one to notice. The girl obviously had some dark issues she was hiding which Melody did not care to uncover. She knew some of her closeted skeletons—most of which having to do with her family—from when they were close and Raquel accidentally let them slip, making Melody swear she'd take them to her grave. Even after their falling out, even after all the bullying, Melody didn't say a word.

Her mother and Neil had always credited Raquel's animosity toward her to jealousy. Melody couldn't understand why since every time she looked at Raquel she felt that venomous pang herself. There were loads of people who called her pretty, even beautiful, but she'd always had an easier time pointing out her own flaws. She hated it when she caught people looking at her, she hated having her picture taken even more, and whenever people complimented her she always felt as though they were actually making fun of her.

Having Raquel there put the cherry on top of an already disastrous week and that pissed her off. How was she supposed to enjoy this extraordinary once-in-a-lifetime experience if she still couldn't get away from her archenemy?

She was trembling, and sensing her anger Remus grabbed hold of her arm. Keeping her from doing stupid, no doubt. Melody was, after all, rather impulsive when she was upset and she had the incredible urge to punch out all of Raquel's blindingly white teeth.

Raquel/Bethany's arm was linked with Sirius's. Side by side they looked like a couple that had walked straight out of the pages of a high-end fashion magazine. The two matched as if they had been designed for one another. Both gorgeous, both possessing a subtle air of haughty superiority which was nearly impossible to reproduce. Remus and Melody were left feeling comparatively plain and underdressed.

Sirius, like every other straight and fully functioning teenage male, was not immune to Raquel/Bethany, especially not the plunging neckline of her golden dress robes which bordered indecency. His gaze was glued to her chest, grey eyes gone almost entirely black with desire. It wasn't at all difficult to guess what he must have been thinking about. Melody would have found his redirected attention a relief were it not directed at the she-devil, that only made it an annoyance.

"Were have you been lurking Lu? Melody?" she asked, flashing her a wide smile that made her stomach turn. "We thought you'd ditched us."

_'Emphasis on the 'we,'_ thought Melody bitterly. _'You've already gotten your claws into your prize. Why won't you just leave me alone?'_

"I've just been chatting with Melody. Must've lost track of the time," Remus lied smoothly, giving his date an apologetic smile.

She shrugged. "Luckily, Sirius and I kept each other company while the two of you... _talked._" The slightest hint of a smirk tugged at the corner of her lips, and by the way she had said 'talked' Melody was certain she had caught Remus kissing her. She knew she wouldn't tell but save it for a better opportunity, when that little nugget of information could cause the optimum amount of damage.

Bethany looked up at Sirius giving him her most alluring look. He was _so_ not immune.

"It seems I was mistaken about her," she told him. Turning her attention to Melody, she explained, "Sirius was _very_ concerned about your whereabouts, sweetie." Melody's eyes flashed and she twitched as though she was willing herself not to lunge at her. Bethany noticed but pretended she hadn't. "I told him you must have have felt faint and gone since I noticed you aren't wearing those _lovely_ glasses of yours. But we had such a delightful conversation! Such a witty bloke, isn't he? He'd make a decent Ravenclaw if he didn't procrastinate as he does!"

Standing up a little straighter, Melody crossly muttered, "I'm suddenly not feeling all that well. If you'll excuse me, I think I'll be calling it a night."

"Do you want me to go with you?" asked Sirius, finally tearing his gaze from the blond's cleavage.

"I'll be fine on by own." She scowled, turning toward the exit when Remus grabbed her arm. He subtly shook his head, eyes urging her to wait.

"I'll go with you," he offered, "and make sure you don't trip or something."

Despite everything, Melody couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that Remus Lupin knew how clumsy she was, particularly when it was past her (self-imposed) bedtime. Not to mention the lack of clear vision and the high-heeled shoes.

"Would you, Moons?" Remus nodded and Sirius looked immensely relieved. If it was because he would be able to spend the rest of his night in Beth's company or because Melody would make it safely back to her dormitory was uncertain. Melody was inclined to think the former. Since she wasn't willing to give him what he wanted it was logical that he would lose all interest in her. And Sirius obviously moved on quickly. "Cheers, mate."

* * *

The following morning Melody's feet were still swollen and ached, covered with a number of blisters: all clear signs that she was unaccustomed to wearing anything but sneakers, flats, and the occasional pair of Doc Martins. Other than that she was cheerful, having expunged the disagreeable encounter with "Beth" from her mind. Besides, if she looked on the bright side Beth was in a different house and not dating her bother anymore which meant their interaction would be limited. It wasn't exactly as perfect as her not existing in this world, but she could definitely work with it.

She and Remus had walked back to Gryffindor Tower in comfortable silence though she had noticed him keeping a safe distance from her, trying not to make her feel uncomfortable. It was because of this that she chose not to bring up the kiss even though it still bounced about in her memory. It hadn't been a big deal and she hadn't kissed back but it left her feeling...concerned, primarily because she'd found it a teensy bit enjoyable. Granted her interaction with boys was pathetically limited and something as simple as a hug was absolutely thrilling to her but she didn't want to start fancying someone, especially not someone she still pictured as a thirty-something Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Just acknowledging that his lips had touched hers felt immoral, therefore she kept quiet. Remus had bid her goodnight and they exchanged awkward half-hugs before going off to bed. That was all.

Melody didn't see him in the common room or in the Great Hall at breakfast, but hoped she would at least before they got off the train so she could wish him a merry Christmas. She and Mary were sharing a compartment with Kat and her Ravenclaw boyfriend, Jun Chang whom Melody secretly assumed would someday in the not-so-distant future be Cho Chang's parents. They were nice and fun to talk to; much better company than Blondie who left after half an hour to "find better company," she had said.

"That's code for whatever poor, willing fool wants to snog her," giggled Kat, her head resting on Jun's shoulder while he mindlessly fiddled with the ends of her hair.

"Is Sirius around?" Melody quipped, polishing off her fifth Chocolate Frog.

"They're on a break, but they'll be back at it soon enough, I think. They never stay apart for long even if all they ever do when they're together is fight...and about who they've been with no less! Insane, those two."

"You're not wrong."

The conversation continued though it had quickly steered away from Sirius and Blondie, most of it was spent trying to assure Kat she would be all right meeting Jun's parents. It obviously meant a lot to both of them that the Changs liked her since they were so serious about their relationship, properly in love and everything. Melody couldn't see how anyone could not like Kat who was just as sweet as Mary, super pretty and perhaps even smarter than her boyfriend and Neil combined. Kat would be fine, or so they all hoped.

After a while Melody had drifted to a dreamless sleep, later waking with a hankering for more sweets. She recruited Mary—who had been reading Brontë as the others slept—to help her find the trolley, promising to buy her as many Licorice Wands as she wanted. It proved to be excellent motivation.

They scoured the entire train finally finding it and the witch who pushed it in the Prefects' carriage. Figures that the ones in power should hog the goodness all to themselves, Neil included. That was another thing that bothered Melody about her twin: he could eat all the junk food he wanted and not gain a single pound while she had to exercise her but off whenever she ate even half a Twinkie. She didn't let this bother her, though, not when there were so many new treats to discover that were a lot better than their cheap imitations in her world.

"Seen Lupin, twin?" Melody asked her brother once they had all procured their goods.

"It's Lupin now, is it? You that pissed off with him?" Neil chuckled. Melody punched his arm none too gently, making him winced. "What was that for?! Bloody psycho!" She laughed, beckoning him to respond to her question. "Must have gone looking for his mates, innit? Left about ten minutes ago, but go easy on him, yeah?"

"I'm not angry with him," she grumbled, "I just wanted to wish him a merry Christmas."

"Is that some new euphemism I should know?" chuckled with an impish grin. "It's something dirty, isn't it?"

"You're not half as funny as you think you are!" Melody called back when Neil kicked them out of the carriage after she tried to punch him again.

Mary was doubled over laughing, nearly in tears. She loved spending time with the Corden twins. There was never a dull moment in their company and Neil wasn't all that bad to look at. Yeah, it was a little weird that she was best friends with his sister and that they looked a lot alike but she tried not to think about that too much.

"Can't blame him for wondering," said Mary when her laughter had died down. They weren't really looking for Remus, rather walking back to their compartment hoping to run into him before they made it to London. "I mean, we all saw you two leave together last night."

It was a relief to Melody that it was the only thing they had seen. Otherwise Neil would have brought up the whole "I thought you two would fancy each other by now" thing again and that wasn't a conversation she was ready to have, knowing she'd probably let slip about the kiss. She had already decided she wouldn't even tell Mary about it unless it became absolutely necessary to.

"Only because Bethany bloody Andrews hijacked my date," said Melody defensively. "It wasn't that terrible before then, and it would have been fun if I hadn't lost Sirius after Sluggy introduced us to that pompous Ministry bloke. He really should get over himself; filing paperwork isn't anything to brag about, even if your doing it for the Minister."

"Did we have the blind down?" asked Mary, looking at the compartment door they stood in front of. They hadn't really been paying attention to where they were going but remembered they had been sitting somewhere near the toilets.

Melody shrugged and pulled the door open. Neither girl could have predicted what sight they would be met with. One thing was for sure, it wasn't their compartment. Not unless Kat and Jun had woken up and moved elsewhere in the short time they were gone.

Neither Melody nor Mary could speak when they saw Sirius and Beth together. Really together. Up close and personal.

Beth, clad in a short pleated skirt and half-unbuttoned blouse was grasping her ankles in front of Sirius while he held tightly onto her hips and—

"Oh my God!" gasped Melody, scrambling to shut the door before they were caught. She leaned against the wall for support, fearing her legs would give in to her weight. "Did we... Was that... Were they just...?" Mary didn't seem to register her friend's words, frozen in complete shock. "Oh my God!"

"Sirius?" asked Remus, unsurprised, as he approached them. Being roommates with the guy, he must have been used to his promiscuity and bad habits at least enough to correctly guess what had startled Melody and Mary.

"Oh yeah." Mary, who looked faintly green, nodded. She still seemed unable to find her voice. "What kind of idiot casts a silencing charm but forgets to lock the door?"

"That would be Sirius," said Remus wryly.

"And Beth Andrews," Mary squeaked, her eye twitching.

"Utterly predictable." He rubbed the back of his neck, looking down at the girls apologetically. "Tam and Chang are two compartments down if that's who you were looking for. I just saw Lyra walk in there looking well pissed off. She must've caught the show as well."

Mary went off to join their friends after Melody told her she would hang back for a little while longer, using the excuse of having to calm herself down after the traumatic thing they'd just seen. After the initial shock it wasn't so bad, yet not entirely okay. It hadn't been the first time Melody had caught people doing the deed—she had seen Beth/Raquel with Neil behind the bleachers at homecoming—but it still made her super uncomfortable. Squirmy. It made her feel dirty. Even more so knowing that Remus knew she had seen them.

"I'm kind of glad we walked in on that, otherwise I'm not sure I would have seen you today," she chuckled, her cheeks still flaring red. This wasn't the way she had been hoping to run into him but that's the way it was. This world just kept throwing different things to make her nervous and embarrassed and frustrated, more so than the world she came from. It was getting to be tedious, really.

"Well, here I am." His laugher seemed forced and nervous and he did everything to avoid her gaze.

Melody frowned, thinking they were back to square one again. She wouldn't allow this awkwardness to continue. Remus was cool and she wasn't about to let something as trivial as a kiss under the mistletoe make things weird between them. She wanted his friendship more than anyone else's because there was so much she wanted to learn about him. She was kind of obsessed and totally a Remus Lupin fangirl, but at least she wasn't tempted to sleep with him or even snog him (she wasn't counting the kiss). It was a strictly friendship sort of deal, she had decided.

"About what happened...right before, um, Beth showed up?"

"Don't even worry about it," he said kindly, her voice snapping him out of his thoughts. "It's completely forgotten."

"Yeah, thanks." She was blushing again when the memory of his lips suddenly flashed across her mind. Was it wrong that she though it was sweet of him to have helped her out like that, uncomfortable as it had been? "I still feel really bad about putting you in that situation. I shouldn't have, and it must have been really weird for me to have just sprung that on you all of the sudden."

"No more than it was for you. Besides, it was only a kiss."

"Oh. So, we're good?"

"We're good." He grinned and Melody grinned back, feeling relieved.

The train was beginning to pull into King's Cross Station and they could hear the excited chatter of their peers as they scurried about, all eager to officially get their holiday started. A pack of first years ran past them accidentally shoving Remus into Melody, leaving her squished between his chest and the wall and both of them breathless.

Melody wriggled out from under him and smoothed out the wrinkles of her t-shirt. Mary had poked her head out of the compartment and was shooting her a questioning look. "I should get going."

"Me too."

"Merry Christmas," they said in unison and laughed.

Mary was beckoning her , shouting at her to get over quickly before she was completely swept away. Melody got on her toes giving Remus a quick one-armed hug. He smelled faintly of chocolate and cinnamon tea, even a little like rain. It made her smile, reminding her of home. She sighed.

"Bye, Moony."

* * *

**A/N:** I know this chapter's somewhat short in comparison to the rest but if I had made it any longer it would have wound up dragging more than moving the story along. Some action, drama and mystery (More accidental inter-dimensional travel, perhaps?) is coming up very soon so don't go giving up on me just yet. I'll try to make it worth your while and not too confusing as these fics can sometimes wind up being. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and please don't be shy to give me any comment or feedback (good or bad, I really don't mind) you might have in the review box below, it really does help my writing and they make me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Thank you all for reading!

~ Melissa


	6. The Rabbit Hole Interlude

**Chapter 6: The Rabbit Hole Interlude**

_Moony... Moony... Bye... Bye, Moony..._

Death was dark and felt like falling. Down, down, down an endless chasm. It was neither scary nor serene. It wasn't anything, really. Just falling. Numb. No sign of stopping.

_Moony... Bye..._

Melody's thoughts flickered like an agitated flame, always going back to the same thing: Remus. They went back to the way his honey-colored eyes had brightened when she had called him by his nickname, the way his lips had felt so soft against hers, the way his voice changed oh-so subtly whenever he spoke to her. Leaving him was the only thing that made her sad about dying. In the not-too-distant future he would lose all his friends in an instant and be left all alone. It was so wrong. He didn't deserve it and Melody wished she could have stayed with him long enough to tell him things would get better, that he would find happiness and love someday. She had not really gotten to know him as well as she would have liked and envied those who would.

_Remus..._

Her voice, calling to him, echoed around her.

This was a transitory state. She was in neither heaven nor hell. Yet. However, she could not remember how it had happened. She could not remember the precise moment of death only what came before it and after—where she was now.

Before the darkness there had been saying goodbye to Remus, and shoving her way throw the crowd on the platform with Mary and Neil. Caroline Ryder, from Arithmancy, had been shoved into James near the barrier and had blushed even after he had assured her there had been no harm done. But she had also been anxious about something...something Melody could not remember in the darkness. That was as far as her memory went. That was where it ended.

And there was no time in the darkness. There was no way of guessing how long she had been falling only that after an eternity of nothingness came a sudden flurry of color. It was like being trapped inside a kaleidoscope. There was no more falling. Melody was in water now, deep below the surface, breathing as easily as if she were on land. The colors blurred together like runny pain, even seeming to posses the rigid texture of acrylics against canvas.

Slowly, the colors began to take shape. Their edges became more pronounced and Melody could see they formed solid objects though her mind struggled to identify them. She hadn't seen anything in so long it was hard to remember. Her body was rising toward them or, rather, into them. She feared she would crash when it all stopped.

Melody's body had been flipped over and her face was hovering inches above the pavement. There was an arm wrapped securely around her waist and a chest pressed against her back breathing heavily in an opposite rhythm to her own. She could feel the extreme heat radiating from his body—she was certain it was a "he"—which felt heavenly compared to the crisp morning air that bit at her skin.

"Steady there." Melody stiffened at the immediately familiar voice, as soft and gravelly as the last time she had heard it.

It seemed like so long since then though it had really been no more than a couple of days. It seemed like ages since she had been in the presence of another person. The dream was over—yes, she thought, it had only been a dream—and she was home.

It smelled of home, it sounded like home, and when her eyes finally adjusted to the brightness she saw the familiar group of buildings across the street that made up her high school.

Home sweet home.

Melody almost wanted to cry at the sight of it, not having realized until that very moment just how much she had missed this world. Every bit of it. Even if it meant being friendless and invisible it was where she truly belonged.

"Thanks," she said softly, having been eased onto her feet by her savior. "That would have been a nasty fall if you hadn't caught me."

Dusting herself off, she found it odd that she was wearing heels and a skirt since she never did so, and that her hair was ironed straight which she was normally too lazy to do. She vaguely remembered having been wearing a simple jeans and t-shirt ensemble before...dying? Was she in heaven? And if so, were skirts part of the dress code or could she negotiate?

But if she was dead then why was Ward here too? The party couldn't have been that intense, not enough to kill them, anyway.

"That's what I'm here for."

His hair was messy and moist as if he had just gotten out of the shower and he wore a Joy Division t-shirt beneath an olive green jacket. He was not all that different from what Melody remembered though for some reason she had thought he would be. She thought everything would be different after the unbelievable week she'd had.

"Saving the vertically challenged from breaking their faces?"

"Among other things," he chuckled, adjusting the strap of his backpack as they crossed the street. "I'm Ward, by the way. Milo Ward."

Melody took the hand he offered though it left her feeling confused. After their whole exchange at the party she hardly felt an introduction was necessary unless—

"You're new?"

"Flew in at the crack of dawn."

"And you decided to come to school?" Melody gaped at him. "Aren't you jet-lagged?"

"Not a bit," he said smugly. They were in the office and Melody had asked Ms. Scholtz, the woman at the attendance desk, for Ward's schedule, taking it upon herself to be his welcoming committee now.

With Ward being new and the number of kids Melody had seen walking around in costumes she realized it must have been Halloween. She herself was dressed up, wearing the Japanese schoolgirl uniform she had made for Comic-Con that summer. This meant that although she had gone back to the real world she had not gone back to the right time. It was Wednesday, but not the right Wednesday. Not that she had any control of where or when she ended up. She still didn't understand how she was able to do this.

"You look nice," said Ward, regarding her costume, which made Melody blush.

She had to admit he wasn't wrong. When she had caught her reflection in the mirror in the office she had been pleasantly surprised to find that she looked quite pretty. She was also pleased that she didn't look trashy—a definite possibility when trying to pull off the sailor suit. Most girls, though, they went for trashy with their poofy short skirts and indecent amount of cleavage which would have been against the rules on any other day of the year. The only reason Melody went to school like this was because, as a member of student government, she had to.

It was she who was getting the stares that morning not the tarts who were dressed as fairies and princesses and mermaids. Being in the company of a new kid, and an attractive one at that, tended to garner attention, especially when Melody was the only focus of his attention. She liked to stay beneath the radar but was enjoying Wards company too much to scurry away and fade back into lonely obscurity. Even though the conversation was mostly about school matters Melody found it was really easy talking to him, almost as if they had known each other for years. She offered him advice about his teachers and were to sit at lunch, told him the best routes to each of his classes and helped him find his locker.

"You've got Calculus with me and my brother," said Melody as the bell rang, "so I guess we'll see you then."

It came as a surprise and a relief how easy she fell back into her everyday routine. She understood assignments again—not just because she had already done them—and felt confident about her responses wherever her teachers called on her. She didn't have to worry about moving staircases or vanishing steps, and definitely not about exploding experiments since her Chemistry class mostly consisted of note-taking.

Fourth period Calculus came before Melody knew it and despite her burning hatred of the subject she was really looking forward to it. Neil would be there and Ward, too, of course. She and her brother were the only Juniors in the class. It was the only class that was completely free of Raquel and her minions.

Neil had saved her a seat, as per usual, and was wearing a costume to match his sister (he was class president so he had to, too). It wasn't that big of a surprise; they had done the matching thing since they were in preschool. The only difference was that his uniform was splattered with copious amounts of fake blood a la _Battle Royale_. The red on Melody's was from the sports drink Raquel had "accidentally" spilled on her in the hall but she didn't say anything about it even after Neil shot her a questioning glance. She stayed silent because in this world he was still dating that demon poor-excuse-for-an-ex-best-friend bimbo.

"Get the homework done, twin?" asked Neil when he realized Melody wasn't going to say anything about why she was red, sticky and smelled of fruit punch.

"I don't know. Did I?"

With an eye roll, Neil pulled out two sets of homework, handing the one with the smaller writing to his sister. It didn't really bother him to cheat for her since Melody was only taking the class instead of easy Statistics because he had asked her to. It was also why he studied with her every second of free time he had so that she would not fail the class. He knew that Melody was good at it but that her nervousness around numbers impeded her from being as successful as he was with math.

"Have you at least been going over the step-by-step notes I gave you?"

"Of course. They were a huge help," said Melody, looking over the sheets of paper in sheer amazement. "It's scary how well you can do my handwriting."

Neil shrugged, his attention turned to the boy who had taken a seat in front of him. "Hey, Ward," he greeted. "Getting on all right?"

"Surviving." Ward grinned at Melody and added, "You were a huge help."

Melody's eyes darted from one boy to the other as they fell into effortless conversation as if they saw each other every day. Confused and feeling excluded, she asked, "Am I missing something here? How can you two possibly know each other already?"

"We're old friends, him and me," said Neil, patting Ward's shoulder, his lips twitching as he tried to suppress a smile. "You could say I'm the reason he's where he is today."

Her brother's response hadn't cleared anything up but Melody chose to leave it at that. Neil, being who he was, had probably become friends with Ward online. He had tons of friends from all over the world, most of which were fans of his freakishly popular music blog, and Ward definitely seemed like he shared in the Corden's taste.

"Don't worry about it," said Ward.

And that was when the weirdness began. Melody's vision would suddenly go fuzzy and there would be instances where their surrounding looked more like the other place than home. Odder still, was the fact that Ward sometimes looked like Sirius and at other times like Remus, for a second he even looked like James. She began to feel dizzy and the sounds she was hearing did not match what was going on in the classroom. She screwed her eyes shut.

The smell of smoke and alcohol was suddenly thick in the air, and Melody herself begun to feel as if she were under its influence. Light and giddy and free with the urge to do something crazy like kiss Ward. No sooner did the thought come when she felt lips brushing against her own, moving in a sweet, gentle rhythm that turned her legs to jelly. Her mouth was bitter with the taste of cheap beer but when Ward's tongue coaxed its way in the bitterness was overtaken by the taste of burnt sugar. She had not opened her eyes but knew, as if by instinct, that it was Ward she was kissing, Ward who had her scooped protectively in his arms, who's chest rose and fell in time with hers when they finally pulled apart for air.

The music from the party shook the wall Melody was pinned to and she could feel the pounding beat reverberating through her. A pair of dark eyes which were at that moment more pupil than iris looked down at her intensely. She had never felt so wanted. Not just wanted—there was something else deeply profound in them. It wasn't quite worship but close. For a second, Melody almost mistook it for love.

"You," he said in a growl, his voice low with warning, "are playing a very dangerous game."

"Am I?" Melody smirked and his eyes twinkled mischievously. It was almost like a drug, knowing she had such a powerful effect on a guy who so many girls were shamelessly pining after. Out of all of them he had chosen her. It was like a dream. "I intend to win it."

"That would be incredibly unwise."

Melody smirked, tugging him closer to her by his tie. "Yet you still want me to," she breathed, her lips ghosting over his.

He had grabbed both her wrists in one hand, pulling her arms over her head and was kissing her hard. There was no sweetness to this kiss just primal desire and desperation. It felt like a confession, like he was trying to tell her something without words. They were so close and yet it still didn't feel like enough. Apparently his thoughts had been the same for with his free hand Ward had hitched up Melody's leg to his hip. She reveled in the feel as the rough skin of his palm ran over her thigh, stopping right before in went to high and then starting over again. It was agonizingly delicious.

"Do you know what you do to me, Melody?" he rasped, releasing his hold on her. "I've wanted this—iyou/i—for so long now. I never thought it would be possible..."

Now free, Melody eagerly fumbled with the buttons of his Oxford shirt, planting soft kisses along his blistering hot skin as she went. Though she knew she was drunk she knew she would not regret this. It didn't feel wrong although they hardly knew each other. In fact, if felt like she had been split up into a number of different Melodys. As if part of her was at the party, another back in Calculus, and another still at Hogwarts though all were aware of what was happening there and were encouraging her. She had been back at the party no more than a couple of minutes but had fallen into the action far more seamlessly than she had before. This was what she had been trying to remember all week.

Ward pulled her back up when she reached the last two and began ministrations. His hands were at her hips, propping her up onto the counter beside the bathroom sink, and he began kissing her along her jaw, down her neck, nipping and licking every so often. It made her shiver. I made her ache. She felt the warmth growing in the pit of her stomach.

"I'm sorry," murmured Ward against her collarbone.

"Don't be," she gasped out, clutching hard onto the edge of the counter to keep from slipping. "Please."

At her words he pulled away abruptly. Leaning against the opposite wall he stared at her horrorstricken though his eyes were still dark and intense. He was trembling, and Melody was too though not from fear but from the tears that were now flowing freely down her face. After all that, he was rejecting her. How could she have been so stupid to believe he would be any different from the others? Hadn't this happened to her enough times for her to have known better?

"I should have been so careless," he said after he had taken a moment to compose myself. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I just needed to do it before—"

"Cut the shit, will you?" she snapped bitterly. "If all you wanted was a quick one then you should have just asked! Haven't you heard? I'm the biggest slut in Ocean Beach; I'll give any bloke that smiles at me whatever he wants! Or did someone put you up to this? Did Raquel tell you she'd let you have a go if you got to me first?"

Ward looked both tormented and offended. In two long strides he was back in front of Melody and made to wipe her tears but thought better of it, knowing Melody would only push him away. He searched her face, urging her to look at him and when she did said, "How can you even begin to think that about me? I thought you would know me better than to think I was that sort of man. I want you, Me—"

"So why did you pull away?" Melody demanded.

"I want you," he repeated patiently, "but I care to much about you to do this while you're drunk."

"I am _not_ drunk!"

Ignoring this Ward continued, "I don't want it to be a quick mindless shag. When I finally make love to you, I want you to remember it down to the smallest detail. I want you not only to know how profoundly I care for you but feel it, to have that feeling infused into your very being. It all sounds very melodramatic, I know, but I can't help it around you."

Melody had come off the counter and smoothed out her clothes. She was wiping her face roughly with the back of her hand. "You don't even know me," she said morosely.

"But I do and better than anyone else does." His eyes were pleading now as he reached out for her hand. "Melody, please. I'm n—"

She pulled away from him. The tears just wouldn't stop. "Don't. I'm not—I can't do this right now."

"Melody, I'm—"

"Just stop, Ward." she whispered. "Let me go."

With that she left the bathroom but on the other side there was nothing. Darkness, again. Falling, again. Spiraling. Hurling. It was not peaceful as it had been before. The air whipped around her, burning her skin. Below her was a circle of light which grew larger as she approached it; an opening. It grew brighter until it was too much and Melody had no choice but to close her eyes.

There was no one to catch her that time, she knew it when she felt the pain of her collision. Something was broken which was lucky considering the fall should have killed her. She could see blood and shattered glass decorating the cobblestones around her.

She moved in an attempt to stand and winced. Yes, something was definitely broken. It was just her left arm, though, so she was able to get up. It hurt to move, it hurt to breathe, and the sight of her arm twisted at an unnatural angle, hanging useless at her side, made her sick but the nearby screams told her to ignore all that and run.

She tried but her body had not yet acclimated to the transition. The world twisted and spun, her head throbbed, and her stomach released whatever little contents it had all over her beat-up trainers. It was not only the screams but the light and the smell and the overall feel of the place that told her she was back in the dream.

_Dream_, she snorted. _Nightmare's more like it._

The screams drew nearer, so did the sounds of explosions. Jets of light wizzed through the air like ominous fireworks and Melody felt around for her wand finding it in a special pocket on the inside of her jacket. It was mostly for show and she knew it, but it was worth a shot. Her mind had gone blank of all defensive information from this world and her own. She was an easy target for anyone, especially a Death Eater, and that was exactly what the figures which approached her were.

She urged her brain and body to go back to normal, to let the epinephrine kick in and help her get out of this. She wanted to survive and yet she was stuck, absolutely rooted to the spot. She stood out alone in the middle of the street. An easy target.

_ "Melody, please! Wait! Let me explain!"_

"I'm not afraid of you," she said, her trembling voice giving her away.

What was she going to do? She was alone and scared and confused and they would not hesitate...

_"It's important. I have to tell you the truth now. I may not have another chance!" _

_The music and Melody's sobs echoed, drowning out the rest of his words._

She was sent flying into one of the buildings behind her, falling into a crumpled heap. Her wand fell not to far from her and she stretched toward it, crying out in pain as the Death Eater at the front of the group stomped on her hand. He summoned her wand to him, stashing it within his robes.

_"You're pathetic, Corden," said Raquel, her derisive laugh echoing. "Hanging all over the new guy. As if anyone would really want you."_

"It's the Corden girl," said one, Yanking her up by her t-shirt. "What should we do with her? I could certainly think of a couple of things. She is such a pretty thing."

Without thinking Melody spat at him. The Death Eater shoved her back to the ground, kicking her side. "You'd do well to obey me, little blood traitor."

"Kill her," one said eagerly.

"She a pureblood," another argued, kneeling before her. "Let's just have a little fun and get back to the mission, yes?"

Melody flinched and whimpered as the one who had spoken brushed his knuckles along her cheek. All the men laughed. Her survival instincts had finally kicked in and she called back the memory of all those self-defense lessons her uncle Gerard had attempted to give her. The man fell back, curled up in pain when her foot connected with his groin. She could have kicked him harder—Gerard always said she kicked like a mule—but without the support of both arms she had not been able to muster up her full strength.

_"He really likes you, you know?" said Neil. "I thought you liked him, too, but sometimes he'll wave to you in the hall and it's like you don't even notice. It's like you don't know him at all. It's for the best, I guess. Anything more would complicate things."_

Melody didn't know what was happening only that it was drawing her focus away from the matter at hand which was significantly more pressing. Her face stung but she didn't know what had happened. She was pinned to the ground by one of the Death Eater's heavy boots against her chest.

_"Why San Diego?" she asked. "Please don't say something stupid like Shamu or Legoland."_

_"No. I came here looking for a girl," Ward replied sheepishly._

_"All out of them back in Stretford?" she teased._

That was the end of the voices, Melody felt them coming to a stop. But there she was wandless, motionless, surrounded by a group of evil men who only had one of two things on their mind; neither particularly good or pleasant.

"Such a waste," the one she had kicked sneered.

Her mouth felt bone dry as she croaked, "Please."

"Begging. How sweet." They all laughed again. "Let's make her scream now, shall we?"

The pain shot through her with such a force it was blinding. She couldn't even begin to process the fact that they were using the torture curse on her. Her mind only focusing on the pain which was to great to even begin to explain. She imagined it was what begin slowly ripped apart would feel like. It was too much for her to handle. Never before had she sprained or even broken any part of her body before that day. Pain had always been something foreign which she had feared not from experience. Everything was happening all at once. She so badly wanted it to stop but knew it wouldn't, not until she was dead or close enough to it.

_This is it,_ Melody though as the pain began to recede. _I am going to die here today._

She heard him, the Death Eater who seemed to be the leader of the little pack begin to say the curse.

* * *

**A/N:** aaaaaand that's how I'm ending it for now. I know, I know, I'm a jerk, right? How could I possibly leave you hanging there? I do love keeping you all wondering. Feel free to share your theories on what comes next with me in the review box, or yell at me for the cliffhanger, or rant about how confusing this chapter was. It is intentionally confusing and gave me a hell of a headache writing it which is why it took me so long to get it out to you guys. No one ever said time-and-inter-dimensional travel was easy, Melody just happens to be learning this in a very extreme, dangerous and maddening way. The next chapter pretty much mapped out so I hope it doesn't take me as long to update as it did with tis one.

Until then my lovely readers,

Melissa


	7. Revelation

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter, Disney, Doctor Who or anything in this chapter which might be familiar to you. Melody, Neil, the rest of my OCs, and the plotline, however, are all mine.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Revelation**

There was a loud BANG.

Melody opened her eyes in time to see the tallest of the Death Eaters hurl through the air, falling with a loud crunching thud. The other three swore, whipping out their wands instantly. At the same time Melody was quickly swept up off of the ground and pushed to stand behind the person who had saved her. A man, she now saw, about her father's age or perhaps slightly younger. Unlike Melody, the man was a skilled duelist with a vast arsenal of non-lethal though highly effective curses. He held his own and had the Death Eaters unconscious in only a matter of minutes.

Cowering behind him Melody had watched in awe, feeling just a tiny bit jealous of his composure and quick thinking. She very much wanted to thank him for saving her but could not find her voice. Her breathing was erratic and her limbs trembled so violently she could not stand without supporting her weight against the man. She felt like a child again; the way she used to when she saw a spider in her room and was too frightened to kill it on her own. It had always been her father who killed the spiders and after he had left them she had forced herself to hold back her terror and revulsion and take care of getting rid of the horrid creatures herself.

The man lead her over to a stack of crates where he carefully helped Melody sit. He had dark brown hair that clung to his forehead with sweat. His face was grimy with the ash and debris from the altercation, most of it collecting in the lines that crisscrossed his pale skin. His robe was torn and frayed in areas that had previously been patched up. Melody tried to find him in her memory rather unsuccessfully though he vaguely reminded her of her European History teacher but thinner.

She watched as he went over to the stunned body of her primary attacker, retrieving her wand from within his robe. She felt herself smile as the man gave the Death Eater a sharp kick in the gut, knowing that she would have done the same had she been able to move.

"What the hell were you thinking, eh, Corden?" he demanded when he returned, picking her back up. His voice was gravelly and had a Scottish accent thicker than both Mary's and McGonagall's combined which made it nearly impossible for Melody to understand him. She managed well enough. "Going up against for of those bastards on your own? Letting them disarm you?"

He seemed so familiar to Melody—not just because he looked like Mr. Richard—and it bothered her. Then she saw his eyes which were that peculiar yellowish hazel she had only ever seen on one other person before. Remus. This man had eyes the precise color of her friend's though they did not hold the same warmth. It must have been his father, she realized, and at this she definitely saw the resemblance. The man's features were quite similar though they possessed sharper lines and were not nearly as soft. Between his eyebrows was a deep line which Melody knew must have been a result of his perpetually stern, worried expression.

"Best get you somewhere safe."

She nodded wordlessly and Mr. Lupin Apparated them away.

Remus sat in his room reading an article in _The Daily Prophet_ about potioneer Damocles Belby's latest advancements on the Wolfsbane Potion he was developing. It would not be a cure but if successfully concocted it would lessen the some of the unpleasant symptoms that came with lycanthropy. Belby claimed those who took the potion would be able hold onto their mental faculties, thus making them less of a danger. It was a thrilling prospect but disheartening as well. Remus knew that he would probably never be able to afford the potion and he was not nearly good enough to brew such a complex one on his own. Not that it mattered much. After so many years of living with the wolf, he had learned to endure it and his transformations. At least, as much as he could.

His gloomy train of thought was interrupted by a loud crack that sounded like a car backfiring only it had come from the backyard. Through the window Remus saw his father helping Melody into the house. Her clothes were torn and filthy, she was covered in blood, and looked on the verge of collapsing.

He darted down the stairs meeting them in the sitting room where his father gently laid Melody on the couch. Up close Remus could see the damage was even worse than what he had thought. This had not been the product of her clumsiness but an attack, and a serious one at that. With the full moon only a couple of days away his rage was stronger that it would have been otherwise though not entirely uncontrollable as his concern for the girl overpowered it.

"Hiya, Moony," Melody greeted weakly, her smile immediately faltering at the sight of him seething.

He smiled back tightly, feeling a muscle in his jaw jumping. The smile did not reach his eyes and completely disappeared when he turned to his father, asking, "What happened to her?"

"Death Eaters at Diagon Alley," he replied grimly. "If she's the best dueler out of your little group then you lot are in serious need of practice. They managed to disarm her. She'd be dead if I hadn't gotten there."

"But...but that's no possible."

It made no sense, what his father was saying. Melody never let anyone get far enough to even try to disarm her and yet here she was bloodied and broken before him. It was the most heartbreaking thing he had ever seen.

Remus stretched his hand out for Melody's unbroken one, giving it a squeeze. He needed to feel her, to know she was really there and really alive. Her pulse reassured him, weak as it was. She was not dead and she would get better and when she did would be stronger. He knew she would be. Feeling her cheek nuzzling against his arm made him feel better, warmth blooming and radiating throughout him. It probably wasn't normal or healthy how much he worried about her, but he didn't care. She was his best friend and if she gave him premature wrinkles and grey hair then so be it.

"Can I stay here?" she croaked, looking up at him hopefully.

"Course you can."

His father nodded, looking down at his watch. "I'll need be getting back to the Ministry now and help sort this all out."

"But it isn't you department."

"I was a part of it and, quite frankly, they'll need all the help they can get," he said. "Take care of her, will you, lad?"

Remus had cradled Melody in his arms and carefully carried her up the stairs with such an ease one would have though she weighed no more than a rag doll. She lay motionlessly on his unmade bed watching as he dashed from one end of the room to the other collecting a number of things which she assumed were magical medical supplies.

"You could have just left me on the couch," she said, feeling self-conscious. "I know, I'm pretty heavy."

"That couch is murder on the back. Besides, I don't think you're heavy at all," he said over his shoulder, rummaging through his desk drawers. "I'm going to fix you up and it will probably hurt so be warned."

Melody rolled her eyes, but said nothing. She was certain that no pain could compare to the Torture Curse.

Remus eased her up gently to a seated position, apologizing when he saw her wince. There was a big reddish-brown splotch on her shirt right below her chest, complimented by similar yet smaller ones which seemed to orbit it like planets orbiting the sun with her every shaking movement. She had never been one to tolerate blood but felt unmoved by it then, even with the knowledge that all of it had come out of her. Her bravery was not an act, nor was it for either her or Remus's benefit. She wasn't brave, she just didn't care. Probably because it had yet to sink in. It would only be a matter of time before the breakdown, before telling herself it was all a dream got old again. It was hard to believe it was a dream with Remus there. In his presence everything felt more real than real.

It had surprised her how strong he was even more than it had to find him shirtless. He wasn't all that bad to look at, really. He was no Adonis, but not scrawny, either. Despite his lean frame he was made up of wiry muscles that corded through his arms and shoulders. His chest was sculpted, with a light sprinkling of hair, and his stomach was flat. Like the rest of him, this previously unseen skin was covered with silvery slashes. The largest scar ran around his left shoulder—a large, gaping bite made from a large animal. Fenrir Greyback's bite which had, as a child, infected him with the affliction which would never cease to torment him.

It had been Remus's gasp that made Melody realize she was running her fingers along its rough line; she had not even noticed when he had kneeled before her and begun healing her wounds. Blushing, she quickly drew her hand back and cast her gaze elsewhere, feeling embarrassed at having been caught shamelessly ogling his bare chest.

"So, are you a Healer now?" she asked quickly, hoping to distract him.

"No," he said, "but I've enough experience with cuts and broken bones to know what I'm doing."

"I can see that." She glanced up subtly and noticed that he was flushed, too. "What is that you're using?" she asked referring to the drops of liquid he was applying to her cuts after plucking all bits of glass from them. She watched in amazement as the skin immediately closed, the wound looking days old rather than recent.

"Essence of Dittany," he said. He was finished with her palms and was now moving on to her arm. "I'll need to buy more soon."

Silence fell over them as he continued to work over her and Melody took the opportunity to examine her surroundings. When Remus had first carried her in he had seemed embarrassed about having her there. It was very messy which she had certainly not expected, though it didn't smell bad the way some boys' rooms did. His desk was cluttered with books and newspapers, and clothes were strewn all over the floor. The walls were mostly bare except for a cork board with a couple of note and pictures pinned to it. One of the pictures was of the two of them. In it they were at school by the lake and Melody had her arms wrapped around his neck, smiling widely while he looked sheepish and awkward with his arms at his side.

"Thanks, for helping me," she murmured. "You must be really pissed off with me. I know what I did was stupid."

"Yes, it was, but I'm just glad you're still alive," he said. The muscle in his jaw was jumping again. "Why didn't you defend yourself?" he asked, his eyes begging her for an explanation. "I know you chose to study Healing instead of going into Auror training but it's no excuse. You need to be safer, Melody. I don't want to—I can't lose you."

Remus's concern and sweet earnestness wasn't what got Melody thinking (though it was nice to be cared about by someone other than her family). She remembered that on her first day waking up in this world Mary had told her that she was studying to be an Auror but that there was still time for her to switch to Healing. She had though it was a good idea only she hadn't told anyone, not even Mary, so how did Remus know?

Outside the sun was shining and the birds were singing like a scene out of a Disney movie. It was too warm to be winter in England and she knew she wasn't in California again because Remus was still right in front of her. She looked at the calendar on the wall opposite her only to discover it was July...of 1978. She had gone forward in time to when they had all graduated. Were they already part of the Order of the Phoenix? Was_she_? Would she stay there, in that place and time, now? She could never be sure.

"You're arms all better now," he said after a moment of silence. Melody looked down at it and nodded. "Any other injuries I should know about it?"

"One of them kicked me in my side," She lifted up her shirt and Remus hissed. "I think he might have broken a rib or two."

"I don't know whether to hug you or have my own go at kicking your arse," he said with an exasperated sigh. Pointing his wand at the bruised skin he muttered a spell Melody had never heard before, relief instantly flowing throw her body. "Now sleep."

Melody grasped his arm, stopping him as rose to leave. "Stay with me."

Hesitantly, Remus sat on the bed giving Melody an are-you-happy-now look but she sighed, easing him back until he lay completely flat beside her. The bed was only big enough for one person so Melody had to turn on her side and curl into Remus's side to keep from falling off. He hooked his arm around her waist, holding her tight, and stroked her hair gently.

Ear pressed against his chest Melody could hear his steady heartbeat, the sound lulling her. The fact that his skin was so warm didn't help keep her awake. And he smelled really good, too. She wanted to keep talking to him, wanted to keep hearing his voice.

"I feel safe when I'm with you," she confessed.

"You really shouldn't," he murmured into her hair.

_Edward Cullen much?_ Melody though. Not that he was hopelessly in love with her or anything he was just being so melodramatic.

"But I do," she yawned as she felt exhaustion pulling her under.

About an hour later Melody was shaken awake. When she opened her eyes she was met with the sight of Neil's worried hazel ones. Remus wasn't beside her anymore but leaning against the doorframe, fully clothed, to Melody's... disappointment? No, that couldn't be right.

"You're an idiot," said Neil.

"Nice to see you too, twin," said Melody before being scooped into a bone crunching hug.

"Idiot," said Neil again, though affectionately this time. "I'm so glad you're okay."

He thanked Remus for healing his sister and asked that his thanks be passed on to Mr. Lupin for saving her before they all exchanged their goodbyes. Melody felt a pang of disappointment at the thought of leaving though she knew she wouldn't have been able to stay with Remus and his father forever. She hid it well as she hugged Remus, stretching up on her toes to kiss his cheek. She caught the edge of his mouth and blushed, darting out of the house after her brother.

"Always knew you fancied him," said Neil, smirking down at Melody as they walked down the empty street. "About time you did something about it, don't you think?"

"I do not fancy him," she reiterated crossly.

_At least I don't think I do_, she thought, biting her lip nervously.

"Whatever you say, twin." Unconvinced by her lack of conviction.

"Are we Disapparating?" she asked as they turned into an alley. "I don't think my stomach can take doing that again."

"Worse, I'm afraid," he said gravely. "We're going Shift."

Melody didn't remember ever having read about Shifting in any of her Harry Potter books, and had no idea what to expect. She watched as Neil pressed his palm flat against the brick wall and took a deep breath, staring intently at the bricks as though willing them to change. She was about to ask what he was doing when she saw a flicker of bluish light peeking through her brother's fingers. It grew, expanding into a large swirling circle big enough for both of them to walk through together. She gingerly outstretched her hand toward it and watched the light ripple like water though she had felt nothing but cool air. It looked like the opening credits of _Doctor Who._

"What is that?"

"A portal," said Neil. "We're going to jump in, all right?"

Melody was about to protest when she felt Neil pulling her in after him. The moment they crossed the barrier everything went dark and she realized this was the in-between place where she had woken up that morning, believing herself to be dead. But when she had entered this space it wasn't because she had opened up some portal, it had just happened without warning.

"An explanation is in order," said Neil, sitting on top of a bucket.

Melody sat down on the dirt floor, pulling her knees up to her chest. "You think?" she snorted. "What the hell was that, Neil? What did you just do?"

"You can do it, too."

"Not like that I can't!"

"I know," he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's difficult to understand. I hardly understand it myself and I've been fully aware of it for as long as I can remember." Melody said nothing but stared up at him expectantly. She noticed he had dropped the English accent and was talking the way he did in the real world. "Things have been weird for you these past few days, right? I've noticed and kind of felt it, too—it's like that whole twin telepathy thing, I guess."

"The point being?"

"You're not dreaming and you're not going crazy. This is all real," he said, mentally bracing for a freak out. It never came which was perhaps even more frightening. Melody was too calm. "You may not remember but this isn't the first time you've been in this world. The two of us were born here, grew up here just as we did in San Diego."

"How is that possible?" asked Melody, her voice thick with incredulity.

Neil shrugged. "Just is. I've always been able to control it but you never have," he explained. "I normally don't do Shifts, though. I let it myself travel between worlds whenever _sans _Tardis, thanks very much." He smiled smugly and Melody rolled her eyes. "It's most common at night. You woke up here, didn't you?"

"Yeah, only when I went back home it was Halloween," she said, her voice trembling, "and then it was the party and then I fell into the middle of that Death Eater attack. I want to go home, Neil. Can't you take me there?"

"I could, but your body would only send you back here. The way I see it is that we're strings that make up the fabric of both worlds, only we are the anomaly. We are the error. Our strings were accidentally weaved to both and through us both words are connected. There's no leaving one or the other entirely without those strings—our strings—snapping."

"So if those Death Eaters had killed me I would have just woken up back home?" Melody inquired, almost wishing Remus's father hadn't showed up just in time.

"It's a definite possibility," reasoned Neil thoughtfully. "Of course, it's just as probable that it would have been game over entirely. Fifty-fifty."

"Why can't I remember any of this? You claim I've done it before?" She was already feeling the warning signs of an impending freak out. The walls were closing in around her and it was getting harder to keep her breathing steady.

"I don't understand it. You've never had trouble remembering before. It's always been so seamless. In dreams, in daydreams. Time moves at different speeds though it feels the same. We can be here for days and it's only been minutes back home and vice versa." He looked just as worried as Melody felt. Obviously her memory loss wasn't a good sign. "You've always kept journals here. It might help to read through them. Maybe with time you'll start to remember."

He didn't sound all that convinced but it sounded like a good enough plan. The best plan Melody could think of, at least.

"Does Mary..."

"Only our family knows...and Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore?"

Neil's face finally split into a grin. "The man knows everything, and he's the reason mom agreed to let you go to Hogwarts. He promised to keep an eye on you."

"Oh." That was definitely news to Melody. She had only seen the Headmaster in the Great Hall at meals and never had it seemed like he was giving her special attention. He had hardly even looked at her and not once had he spoken to her. There had been a moment or two in the week when she had had a chance to greet him but chickened out and dashed away in the opposite direction before he noticed her. He was Dumbledore, after all. How could she talk to him just like that? Even in the book world the man was a legend.

"We have to keep it a secret," Neil insisted, emphasizing every word. "Do you understand that, Mels? It is imperative no one finds out what we can do. Not Mary, not Jaime, not Lupin. No one can know."

"I get it. I'll keep my mouth shut."

"Good," said Neil, satisfied. He stood up and stretched, his stiff joints cracking loudly. "We should probably get out of here. Gran's probably looking for us and I think we're a bit too old for the hide-and-seek excuse."

"Mamá Victoria?" asked Melody, her throat constricting. She hadn't seen her grandmother in five years and since then there only contact had been the occasional phone call which never felt like enough. "She's here?"

Smiling, Neil nodded and helped her back onto her feet. When he opened the shed door she was temporarily blinded by the light but when her vision adjusted she felt her heart bubble and overflow with pure joy. Perhaps she had not died, but she had still made it to heaven.

* * *

**A/N: **So there you have it, the nature of Melody's bizarre week has finally been revealed. Were you expecting Neil having the power, too? Let me know! Though this is chapter 7 I suppose this is where the story really begins to take off as far as Melody's involvement in the war, with the Marauders and so on. Now that she knows the wizarding world is really her world too that knowledge will most definitely be influencing future decisions. Questions? Comments? Drop me a line in the review box below. As always thanks so much for taking interest in my fic and staying for the ride. It only gets better. I promise.

Till the next update

— Melissa


	8. Nevermore

**A/N: **A huge apology for the epic delay of this update. I just had finals last week and they totally kicked my ass (seriously, when I was done the stress left my body so quickly it practically left me paralyzed). I've been working on this chapter all along but little by little given the essay-writing and test-studying and so on but I've only now finished it. That being said, it's not my greatest work but not too bad considering everything I was dealing with. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it. I'll try my best to churn out at least one chapter a week but can't make any promises. Please don't hesitate to drop me a line. It's the only way I know what you guys are liking and hating and it really, really helps. Thank you all for being so patient. I love you guys to bits.

**_*New end bit added: 6 Jul._**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Nevermore**

"It's exactly the same," gasped Melody, already beginning to feel the tears prickling the backs of her eyes as they darted in every direction eagerly taking in their surrounding.

Everything was precisely as it was in her memory. There were the same ivy-covered walls, the same stone fountain in the very center of the courtyard, the same tiled floors, the abundance of lovely flowers which exploded everywhere in a dizzying array of colors, and the sweet aroma of fruit which lingered in the crisp early afternoon air. She hadn't been to the Spring House in years and yet it felt like she had never left it. If there was one place Melody loved above all in any universe it was that: her grandparents' charming vacation house nestled deep in the heart of Mexico.

When she and Neil were younger every visit had always felt like stepping into a fairy tale. Even absent of magic it had always been so vibrant and enchanting. It had always been such a happy place; a safe place where the rest of the world melted away into nothingness. Time stood still there, it always had.

"How?" wondered Melody aloud, mystified. "Why?"

"Dunno," said Neil with a shrug. "I reckon its the universe's way of keeping us from going completely mad."

_Like an anchor._

Melody swatted Neil as he pushed her, none too gentle, towards the bathroom which was only a couple of steps away from the shed. She knew she wasn't exactly springtime fresh but her hunger far overpowered her desire to get herself cleaned up, especially in this practically medieval outdoor bathroom. It was the most awkward bit of the house and not even attached to it as it was added ages after the original structure was built. It had massive windows which would give whoever used it absolutely no privacy were it not for the plants plotted strategically in front of them.

Yes, food was definitely much more of a priority.

"Neil, I'm starving. Can't I have like lunch or something first?"

"And risk mum and gran seeing you?" he snorted, giving her one last shove over the threshold. "One look at the state of you and they'll lose their shit." He looked his sister over one more time and added, "Besides, we've got a Portkey scheduled to leave for the Potters' in an hour so you best get a move on."

"The Potters'? It can't possibly be Christmas Eve already."

"No, it is, but your timeline's out of sequence. You'll make up the missing days later, no doubt."

With the flick of his wand Neil turned on the shower causing Melody to shriek as the ice cold water soaked her. He laughed and slammed the bathroom door shut.

Melody's teeth chattered and her skin stung at the abrupt change in temperature but by the time she peeled off her dirty clothes she had gotten used to it. She began carefully scrubbing away the dirt and dried blood, letting her mind wander as she did so.

* * *

Mary was not on speaking terms with Melody that evening as they stood outside the Potters' massive estate. It's not that she was angry with her best friend just annoyed at her for being so careless. Melody had lost track of the time in the shower and hadn't laid anything out to wear which resulted in her running around their room like a headless chicken. Mary, being the fabulous friend she knew she was, sacrificed a large chunk of her own primping time to help Melody out which left her looking ordinary rather than the extraordinary she was aiming for. Neil hadn't even looked at her since they ran for the Portkey, catching it in the nick of time.

Melody was pouting and spouting apology after apology as Mary knew she always did after screwing up.

"Yeah, yeah," said Mary grumpily, arms crossed over her chest. "I better be getting a _huge_ present from you this year."

It was then that the door swung open revealing their host. Melody and Neil were immediately scooped into a crushing hug by an elegant-looking woman who Mary could only assume was Mrs. Potter. Mr. Potter hugged Melody next, giving Neil a hearty pat on the back. James and Sirius sandwiched the Corden twins into a painful hug leaving them breathless yet grinning.

"Hello, Jackie," said Mrs. Potter smiling at the two women standing behind her son's friends. "And Victoria, we're so glad you could make it!"

Mary stood there feeling uncomfortably out of place until Neil was kind enough to introduce her. Too shy to go in for a full-on hug, she settled for a handshake.

As they all followed Mrs. Potter into the house Melody shot her a reassuring smile which did make her feel better. After all, she could never stay upset at her best friend for too long.

The house was beautiful, of course. Neil had described it to her earlier it great detail but it did not compare to actually being there. He had told her that though the Potters were an old family like the Cordens their house was not as lavish as that of other purebloods, but she could not possibly imagine what those must have looked like. Everything in the Potters' house looked incredibly expensive. And delicate, too, as if it would shatter at the softest touch. She had only ever lived in a modest little house that was hardly big enough for her, her parents, and her little sisters and brother. It seemed crazy to her for a family of three (well, four counting Black) having so many rooms and things to fill them with. She couldn't help but be a little jealous.

"Oh, you get prettier every time I see you!" she distantly heard Mrs. Potter say. "And that dress! Simply stunning!"

At this Melody blushed and patted Mary's shoulder. "It's all this one's doing," she said which made Mary beam proudly.

Yes, Mary thought, she had done fantastically, especially in the short amount of time Melody had provided her with. Not that it was difficult with Melody since she was already naturally very pretty, but Mary's work enhanced the prettiness. She'd gone for sweet and simple with Melody's makeup and used the Witch Weekly tip on her hair again since it seemed to have worked so well the first time. And though she had picked out the first dress she saw in her friend's wardrobe, it was lucky that it was the gorgeous blue and white taffeta one she was wearing. Melody's mum and grandmum had been impressed, even Neil.

"Thank you," Melody mouthed, feeling glad when Mary smiled back at her.

They had been lead into a beautifully decorated area that left her breathless. It was like a ballroom only smaller, filled with delicious-looking food and joyful seasonal music emitting from the wireless. There was a huge tree at the center of the room like the one at the Spring House but with many more decorations. There was holly and twinkling lights everywhere, and the fireplace was lit. Outside everything was covered by a light blanket of snow. It was enough to make Melody cry though she tried hard not to.

Back home it never snowed and after she was twelve Christmas had never really felt Christmas-y enough no matter what she did. This was the first time since she was a little girl that it felt real. But that wasn't why she wanted to cry. Looking around at the happy faces of her friends and family she felt a surge of pain at the thought of what would soon become of them. She would lose them all in some way or another, and until that moment had never really understood it. The loss, it would surely crush her.

"Are you all right, dear?" asked Mrs. Potter, noticing as a tear ran down Melody's cheek.

"Y-yes, Mrs. Potter, thank you," Melody said softly.

She caught Neil frowning at her. He was probably going through the same thing, she realized, and yet he was much better at hiding his distress. He loved these people just as much as she did and would be just as heartbroken, but he was trying to be strong...for her sake.

That only made it worse. What would happen to Neil? To Mary? To her? Their fates were still so uncertain and that made it all the more frightening.

"Christmas always makes Mels a wee bit emotional," said Neil, draping an arm over her shoulders. "It's always nice to be amongst friends, though."

That was enough to get Mrs. Potter going again until the doorbell rang.

"That'll be Moony," said James. Despite her sadness, Melody couldn't help but smile.

"What about Pete?" asked Neil. "Shouldn't he be here by now?"

"Couldn't make it this year." Sirius shrugged. It didn't seem to matter much to him.

Melody noticed how he kept staring at her the way he had stared at Beth the night before he bonked her. It made her nervous and uncomfortable and she couldn't keep from squirming. This only made Sirius grin which was beyond irritating.

"His mum wanted him to spend it with her and her boyfriend and the boyfriend is apparently not too comfortable amongst us magic folk, or so Wormy says."

"Shame, that. Christmas crackers won't be nearly as fun without him."

James smiled fondly at whatever memory they were thinking of and said, "Only he finds the jokes genuinely funny."

Mrs. Potter reemerged then with the familiar clicking of her shoes against the marble floor followed by Remus and his father.

Mr. Lupin exchanged polite greeting with Melody's mum and grandmum while Remus was practically tackled by his fellow Marauders. He greeted Neil and hugged Mary, complimenting her on her lilac dress. Then it was Melody's turn.

She leapt into his arms, almost knocking him down with the force of it which only made them both laugh. When they were steady on their feet again Melody got on her toes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Oi! How come he gets a kiss!" said Sirius, pouting.

Melody rolled her eyes and pretended not to hear him. "It's so good to see you again, Moony."

"Missed me, did you?" he asked, his tone warm with humor. "It's only been less than a week."

She blushed and quickly backed away, realizing that she still had her arms draped over his shoulders. Though he had only been joking Melody didn't want to admit she really had missed him. She didn't even want to admit to herself how unnaturally often she had thought about him those past couple of days, especially the memories of his future self which were still fresh in her mind. Every detail of his face and bare chest seemed etched to the back of her eyelids and it made her heart sputter and ache. His voice, his concern and how he truly, deeply seemed to care for her didn't make it any easier to forget him for even a second. It was all so new to her. Sure she had always had the unconditional affection for her family but this was different, even different from her friendly devotion to Mary, James and Sirius. It felt far more profound which pleased and confused her as much as it disconcerted her.

"Shut up," she mumbled, weakly punching his arm.

He smiled crookedly. "I missed you, too, Mels."

It was the first time he hadn't called her by her full name and it sent a pleasant shiver through her. The nickname, which had always seemed so lame to her, sounded lovely coming from him. Musical, almost. Before she could stop it her mind drifted to their kiss, then to how he had wrapped his arms tightly around her only a couple of hours earlier and she berated herself for her immediate biological reaction.

She knew that ache far too well; enough to know it would cause nothing but trouble. Still, it would not stop. As hard as she tried, her thoughts kept going back to him and when they didn't they were dark and worrisome; always about the ominous future.

* * *

It was one of the most pleasant evenings Melody had ever had but also one of the most difficult. After dinner they had sat and chatted comfortably. The Christmas music had grown boring and so James had tuned the wireless to another station.

"I love this song," said her mother softly, and Melody realized that it was a muggle song which was playing.

Mr. and Mrs. Potter soon begun to dance, and a moment later Neil was leading a pink-cheeked Mary to the center of the room as well. James had partnered up with Jacqueline, and Mr. Lupin with Victoria.

Melody stood and watched overcome with a great sense of happiness and grief, not sure whether she should be smiling or crying or both. When these people were nothing more than words on pages she could easily ignore the tragedy of their end, and she could bring herself to forget about it but not now. Not ever again.

When the song ended and a new one began Melody felt rough fingers brush lightly against her arm and looked up to see Remus's eyes fixed on her, filled with concern. She slipped her hand in his and they joined in the dancing, swaying slowly in time to the gentle tune.

"What's wrong?" he asked, noticing her gloomy mien. "It's not like you to be sad at Christmas."

"It's nothing. I promise."

"Mels, you can tell me anything," Remus assured her. "You know that, don't you?"

Melody her cheek pressed against his chest so that he would not see how hard she was trying not to cry. Being so close to him only made it worse. He filled her senses and worsened the ache.

"I'm fine," she said again.

It was true to some extent. She found it hard to think of anything else when Remus was holding her. As she had told his future self that morning she felt safe with him, and comforted. Whenever he touched her, even in the most platonic of ways, she didn't want him to stop, but that little voice in the back of her head told her he would eventually let her go... It told her that soon almost everyone in the room would leave her for good.

"Don't mind me cutting in, do you, mate?" asked Sirius, yanking Melody away from Remus without waiting for a reply. "Thanks, Moons."

Remus smiled apologetically at his previous partner took a seat in an armchair from where he watched them pensively. Melody sighed, and felt like stomping hard on Sirius's feet so that he would let her go, or at least loosen his grip on her. It wasn't that she didn't like Sirius, she just didn't like how he made her feel: uneasy and salacious. She knew it was beyond cliché, even more so when she told herself she couldn't help it, but Sirius just seemed to exude that vibe. He was confident and handsome and judging by what she had accidentally seen on the train not bad at making a girl "happy." She couldn't help but be curious yet at the same time wanted absolutely nothing to do with him that passed the boundaries of friendship though she clearly did.

"Don't look so pleased, Corden," he chuckled, "someone might think you're actually enjoying yourself."

"I'll try to contain my elation," she replied dryly.

The adults had retreated into another room about half way through the second song, leaving them all alone. James, now left without a partner, had joined Remus. Both boys seemed to be analyzing Neil and Mary who were oblivious to anything but each other.

Melody was in the middle of hoping Neil would finally man up and make a move when she felt a dreaded heaviness holding her feet to the spot. She didn't have to look up to know what it was. Mistletoe. Again. It must have been holding down Sirius too because he smirked his crooked smirk which made Melody's stomach flip. His lips were pressed down on hers before she had a chance to protest. His hand was cupping her neck and he had shoved his tongue into her mouth—she went cold with the wrongness of it.

_No, _she thought. _No. Not Sirius. I don't want Sirius, I want...I want Remus._

She gasped and jerked away from Sirius with such force that she almost stumbled. If he hadn't been holding her, she would have fallen. Melody pulled back from him and swatted Sirius away when he tried to touch her again.

Sirius's eyes widened in disbelief. "You're cutting me deep, Corden," he said, keeping his tone light though his expression was one of pure confusion. "That's not the reaction I typically get."

"Well, it's the only one you'll be getting from me." Melody wiped her mouth roughly with the back of her hand, glaring up at him. "What part of 'I don't want to kiss you' did you not understand? You should have brought your little slag for that!"

"Are you jealous, Corden?" he asked, smirking in an attempt to conceal his bruised ego. "Always knew you fancied me."

"Not even in your dreams, Black," she spat. "I'd rather get mauled by a werewolf."

Silence fell over them. Everyone but Mary surreptitiously darted their eyes toward Remus. Melody hadn't meant to say what she did, it just slipped out. It made her feel awful when she noticed how pale Remus had gone, and Neil looked like he was about to drag her out of the room by her hair. It was obvious that Remus's not-so-secret condition was something she wasn't meant to be in on. Not that they would ever suspect that she knew, they would merely think it was the sort of thing she'd say.

Sirius stepped closer to her, leaning down slightly as if he was about to try to kiss her again but instead said, in his softest and most seductive tone, "You're shit at hiding it, love. I know you want me. You're curious. You're wondering if all those rumors you've heard are true. I'd be more than happy to offer myself up for your assessment."

"You'd just love that wouldn't you?" she hissed, feeling herself growing furious. "You'd just love to have me give in to you just like every other mindless bimbo you wink at. It's never going to happen, especially with you sticking it into Bethany sodding Andrews."

"Admit it. I'm wearing you down."

She glared at him but neither this nor her words seemed to discourage him.

_The cocky bastard_, thought Melody venomously.

"What's it going to take, then, eh, Corden?" he asked. "What's it going to take for you to give me what I want?"

"Nothing _you're_ capable of." With that Melody turned on her heel, stalking out into the garden.

As she walked she could feel the hot, angry tears running down her cheeks. The thought that the tears would ruin Mary's wonderful job with her makeup only made her cry more because she didn't know of any spell that could possibly fix it.

She settled onto a stone bench by the large pond at the far end of the garden. It was beautiful, of course, like the Potter's house itself. There were so many trees and neatly trimmed shrubs all decked with the same twinkling lights that had decorated the house. The night was silent and still, and because the Potter's house was so secluded the stars seemed to shine brighter than they did in the city.

After a couple of minutes snow began to fall. It was cold—freezing, actually—and Melody didn't have a sweater, but it didn't bother her as much as it normally would have. In fact, cold air biting at her bare skin made her feel more alive. However that rare, lovely sensation quickly flitted away when she felt a heavy warmth drape over her shoulders.

It was strange how she already knew who it was without looking, before hearing him speak. It was funny but she knew him from the smell of soap, chocolate, and firewood that clung to his coat. There was also his own personal scent which was just as lovely but so much more difficult to explain: boyish but not at all unpleasant.

Nuzzling the soft, worn out fabric, she offered Remus a watery smile as he sat beside her. Without asking he wrapped his arms around her and begun stroking her hair.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm...sad," Melody replied, and she realized that it was the truth. She was not crying because Sirius had pissed her off but because everything she had been suppressing from the very start had finally bubbled over. She was frustrated and angry and confused but it was mostly sadness. About everything. She tried but couldn't pinpoint where it stemmed from.

"I'm really, really sad," she croaked, "and Sirius only made it worse!"

"I guessed as much," chuckled Remus, kissing the top of her head. The gesture sent a wave of pleasure through her and she resisted the urge to kiss the tiny bit of sikn visible over the collar of his shirt though it was only inches from her lips.

"Nothing makes any sense anymore and I...I wish I could just go back...to before."

Remus nodded. "Things were certainly a lot simpler when we were younger."

Melody chuckled, unable to tell him that that wasn't what she had meant.

"I'm scared, too," he said, blushing a bit when Melody peered up at him quizzically.

Her back was to his chest and he had taken her hands in his. Remus wasn't a burly guy but Melody had never felt so small, though she liked the way his hands seemed to fit hers perfectly. They were scarred and calloused and the fingernails were bitten down to nubs but they were special because they were his. They felt boiling hot, but, then, hers were always ice cold no matter the season.

"It's all right to be scared, Mels, we all are."

"Don't you every just want to run away from all of this?"

"Of course I do, but what good would it be?" She had to admit he was right. Wasn't he always? "Besides, after next year we wont have Hogwarts as protection. Soon we'll be out in the real world and on our own."

"But it's too real," Melody hiccoughed. "I don't think I'll be able to handle it."

"I know you will. You're the strongest, bravest person I know." She gave him an incredulous look and he laughed. "You are."

"You're braver."

"I'm a coward," he sighed morosely, looking away from her for a moment. "You, you're brilliant and you make me brave. It's because of you that I can believe the world will get better."

His fervor surprised her, but it was his eyes that captured her attention. They were so intense as they focused on some unseen thing and their unusual color made them look almost unnatural. She had always thought they were brown or a dark hazel but up close she could see that they were golden, like honey.

"I'm scared, too, Melody," he repeated. "So much."

He wiped away the last of Melody's tears with his knuckles, and she could feel the scars on them, too. How could he call her brave after all he endured every month? Something which, unlike the war, would never go away. She was in awe of him. It was a different sort of admiration than that she had had for him when she had read the books, based on far more knowledge. She never would have dreamed that such a person could ever be one of her best friends. Couldn't he see how utterly amazing he was?

"Come on," he said after they had spent at least half an hour just sitting there in silence, "let's go see how Casanova's getting on." Melody laughed, shoving him away playfully. "You'll be all right, won't you?"

"As long as I've got you, Moony."

The rest of the evening was rather uneventful in comparison. There was more music and conversation but everyone went about as though nothing had happened, and Melody appeared to be relieved by this. She stuck by Remus for the most part, thinking of him as a safety blanket of sorts. Never had she felt so safe and relaxed as when she was at his side.

Though he looked and felt truly sorry for his foolish move, Sirius said nothing. He watched. He watched his close friend and the pretty girl who was the current object of his desire with a sharp eye, gauging her reaction at the most minimal of gestures. Sirius noticed the small smile that tugged at the corner of her lips every time Remus took her hand or absentmindedly ran his fingers through her hair, surprised by the small twinge of jealousy he felt. He'd known for a long time that he wanted her badly, he had just never realized it went deeper than a physical impulse. It was something very new to him.

He could still taste her on his lips and that only worsened the ache—his absolute need—to touch her. When the night came to a close he had not been expecting a word from her but Melody hugged him and assured him that he was forgiven "so long as you never try something stupid like that again." She smiled her brilliant smile and pressed a chaste feather-soft kiss on his cheek before she and the rest of her party Disapparated away.

When Remus and his father had gone, too, James studied him briefly with that weird look of concentration on his face then shook his head. "She's like a sister to me, mate," he said.

Sirius chuckled. "Is this you telling me you'll kick my arse if I hurt her?"

"No. She's perfectly capable of doing that herself."


	9. I Don't Want This

**A/N: **Apologies again for the delay. I had some family drama that kept me from writing but I'm back now. Also, I thought I'd use this note to inform you all that though I'm not done with the rewrite I will begin posting the sequel, _Poppy Fields_. Since _An Unfamiliar Melody_ is done there is nothing spoiler-y about it, unless of course you're only reading this one. Anyway, check it out if you'd like. And thanks so much to all of you for being so patient with me. I promise I will not be abandoning this story. Also, I'd love it if you guys left me a review?

P.S. I haven't edited this chapter so feel free to point out any errors you might find and I'll fix them as soon as I can. Thanks!

* * *

**Chapter 9: I Don't Want This**

It felt like the days shot by in a blur and then it was New Year's Eve. Jacqueline had, after much persuasion and childish pleading, allowed Melody, Neil, and Mary to go to Diagon Alley for the night: a Corden twins tradition since third year, or so Neil had stated. The only conditions were that they stick together and carry their wands with them at all times, making sure to keep an eye out for any dodgy behavior. Simple enough. Nothing else was that simple there.

Melody shivered as the brisk afternoon air through her damp hair. It was only six and they wouldn't be leaving until about nine-thirty or ten but she hadn't wanted to rush again like she had a Christmas.

Despite it being winter she had been too lazy to turn on the water heater, and knew it would no doubt result in a pesky case of the sniffles but didn't mind it all that much. She was simply far too happy to care about things like her health when she was in this place, her favorite in all the world. They had always called their Grandma Victoria's place The Spring House because of all the plants and bright colors. It was the place that had always been an oasis in the chaos which was Melody's life and, even in the fictional world, still was for which she was glad.

Here was serenity and happiness and safety and yet Melody's thoughts were already working against the Spring House's magic. She tried to think different thoughts but couldn't. It was too late, anyway; the atmosphere was already tainted. Even so far away from what had happened in both time and space Melody could not bring herself to forget. Not the pain nor the fear, and certainly not the overwhelming sense of helplessness which had overcome her. A war was coming and she didn't know what would become of her when it finally arrived. She knew it would, and soon. She would not allow herself to be thrust into the middle of it unprepared as she had been that morning. Melody was determined to make her own choice on the matter. However, she was not yet sure what direction to take.

_There's always a choice_, she thought as she watched the sky slowly transform and dim into shades of orange and pink. She could choose to hide as easily as she could choose to fight. But could she really do either? She did not believe so. She did not believe he could continue to go on pretending with what she knew.

Only a few days in this world and Melody was already far more invested in it than she had ever been in the other. She had real friends here, her family was here, and she was the happiest she had been in a very long time. This world was real and she belonged to it now. She loved it despite the trouble she had getting the hang of it. She loved it. Simple as that.

Melody's thoughts immediately turned to Remus. He had looked so scared, so furious, when his father carried her like some sort of wounded baby bird. Then at the Potter's she could have sworn there was something more, something deeper, in his words and how he looked at her. Was she willing to abandon him? No. When she thought of the war and thought about how likely it was that he might get hurt as she had, Melody's heart ached. When she thought about it she imagined herself taking care of him the way he had taken care of her: sweetly, gently and with infinite patience.

But she didn't want Remus or anyone else to ever get hurt. The longer she thought about it the clearer it became that she would not let her fear draw her away. She was terrified but knew that when the time came she would die before she let any of her friends get hurt. Especially Remus.

_Why? Why him?_

Her feelings for him were so strong which only made them all the more perplexing. She couldn't let it happen, she told herself. She couldn't let her feeling develop into anything more than friendship and yet she feared that it was already too late to draw that line.

She sat out in the courtyard for what felt like hours thinking and thinking and thinking until none of her thoughts made any sense. It had grown colder but she hardly noticed. The only sounds around her were those of crickets and frogs and the fountain. It was almost like she was in the darkness again, in that place between both worlds.

"It's late." Victoria's soft, lilting Irish accent was as comforting as ever.

Melody looked up at her grandmother smiling and rubbed her eyes as if just having woken up from a dream.

"Why aren't you getting ready?"

Melody shrugged, finally feeling the cold. Her hair had long since dried and frizzed spectacularly around her shoulders which she knew would grieve when it came time to do something with it but right then chose to ignore it.

Victoria had taken the empty spot on the bench beside her.

"It's not like a girl of your age to be so sad when she's in love," she said with a knowing smile. "Shouldn't you be skipping or singing?"

"Gran, I'm so not—I can't be—No," stammered Melody, feeling her cheeks grow hot. "Definitely not."

Victoria gave her an unconvinced look. "I may be old, Melody, but I am know what I see. I saw it in your mother as I now see it in you. You may deny your feelings to yourself but not to me."

"How can you be so sure?" grumbled Melody. "I've got plenty of things on my mind."

"A boy is at the center of them all, no doubt."

Victoria was right, of course. Melody hated how her grandmother and Neil had the annoying talent of reading her like a open book. They always pointed out things she had yet to figure out or understand or things she merely did not want to accept. This was definitely one of them.

"Remus is a lovely young man," said Victoria, eyeing her granddaughter curiously. "Do you know what he is?"

Melody's eyes darted to the fountain which depicted the very myth from which Remus got his name. It had always been one of her favorite stories as a child: the twin boys raised by a wolf. As a twin herself she had never really liked the ending much, though.

"Yes, but how do _you_ know?" wondered Melody. "How can you tell when you've only ever met him a handful of times?"

Victoria smiled. "People here are far more tolerant to his kind than they are back home," she explained. "Here, people sooner distinguish the man from the beast than condemn him for it. They are aware that the condition is usually an accident of fate." Melody nodded her head vigorously wondering why more people could not bring themselves to think that way. "Poor boy."

"I wasn't supposed to feel this way for him."

"I don't think that's for you to decide. Love happens. You cannot make it happen, otherwise it is not love at all."

"I can't tell him. It would be wrong of me to tell him," said Melody sadly. "You know what I am. You know what's wrong with me—I don't want anyone to get hurt, especially him."

"But what about you?"

Melody shrugged. How could she tell her grandmother that everything was so clear now and that she no longer mattered? Nothing mattered but keeping everyone she loved alive.

Yet the wise Victoria did understand, that much was clear in the way that she hugged her granddaughter. She had always been the kind of woman to let others figure things out for themselves and Melody knew just how lucky she was to have her.

"You two need each other," Victoria whispered into Melody's hair. "You both deserve to be happy, but it's up to you." Melody pulled away, wiping away the tears that had been falling the whole time without her notice, and nodded. "Now go before Mary throws a fit about how much you procrastinate."

_:::ooOOOoo:::_

"You're going to tell him?!" squealed Mary, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet as they browsed around Flourish and Blott's. There was a big New Year's sale going on and it was packed but Melody really wanted to get some supplementary reading to help with school.

Melody was waving her arms frantically trying to silence her friend's excited shrieks when Neil's head popped up over the shelves giving the girls questioning look.

"Found it," giggled Mary nervously, holding up a random book. Her cheeks—and Neil's—went completely scarlet when she realized the book was one full of very..._uncommon_ sex tips. Melody couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh my god," groaned Mary when Neil had retreated to another section. "Kill me now. That was beyond embarrassment. He probably thinks I'm some sort of weird, kinky nymphomaniac now."

"On the bright side, that'll probably make him fancy you even more," laughed Melody falling into a fit of hysterics without realizing she had just spilled her brother's big secret.

"He—Neil likes me?" asked Mary softly once Melody had completely calmed down.

"Course he does. Why do you think he broke it off with slaggy Andrews?"

"But...me? Your brother likes _me_?" she said. It sounded like she was choking, which would have been funny if it was anyone but Mary. Melody had no idea it would be such a big deal. "The boy I've been completely and pathetically in love with since I was twelve..."

"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," chuckled Melody as she held onto Mary, keeping her from falling to the floor. It was a rather ridiculous sight given how much taller she was than Melody.

"Why hasn't—He's never said anything."

"The idiot's afraid you might not fancy him back," explained Melody with an exasperated eye roll.

Finally snapping out of her shock, Mary snorted, "Is he _blind_?"

"He's got perfect vision, actually. The jerk hogged up all the good genes," joked Melody, wiggling her glasses, which only made Mary roll her eyes.

"I should tell him, shouldn't I?"

"Yeah, start the new year on a good note."

"I will then." Mary grinned a brilliant grin that only made her look prettier. "I'll do it now," she chirped, beginning to skip away.

"Wait," said Melody, grabbing her by her wrist. "Good luck."

"You too."

They had all agreed to meet up in front of the ice cream shop before midnight, but since Melody had not seen Remus at the bookshop she was sure he would already be there waiting. There was no telling what would happen but she was excited. Excited to see him and tell him, but first she knew she would have to thank him (in person) for his Christmas present.

Surely enough, there Remus was. He was leaned against the wall, nursing a bottle of Butterbeer as he, James, and Peter laughed at something James had said. Those four boys together were such a wonderful sight, so happy and dull of life. Melody tried to focus on that, pushing all thoughts of the future far back.

Remus's looked up to see her walking toward them and his smile widened.

"Happy New Year," greeted James as he pulled her into a warm hug.

"Not quite yet. Ten minutes to go."

"Well, then, happy ten-minutes-till-the-New-Year," he amended.

"To you as well," said Melody with a curtsey. "What've you lot been up to this fine evening?"

Sirius shrugged, lighting a cigarette. "Same as always."

"Nothing then? How interesting."

"Where are Neil and Mary?" asked Peter, craning his neck to look over the crowd.

"Snogging each other's faces off, I reckon."

"Lucky bastard," grumbled Sirius, blowing out a puff of smoke. He held out his box of cigarettes, offering one to Melody then everyone else when she refused. "He's finally told her, then?"

"Actually, I accidentally let it slip and then Mary ran to tell him she felt the same."

"About bloody time."

"Innit, though?" chuckled Peter, taking a cigarette after James did. When the box came to Remus he merely shook his head.

"I loved all your presents, by the way," said Melody, sitting on the round wooden table beside James. "They were all great, and Mary was absolutely thrilled you got her a mirror as well, Sirius. Thanks so much."

"No problem." He smirked, obviously chuffed. "Anything for my favorite girl."

Melody felt heat creep onto her cheeks and was thankful that the light around them were not bright enough for them to see just how much she was blushing.

"I gave you a jumper, and I know James gave you a new charm for your bracelet," said Peter, "but Moony never told us what he was going to get you."

Remus quickly answered before Melody did. "A set of quills."

Melody shot him a questioning look, wondering why he was lying but he clearly didn't want to discuss it there in front of the others.

"I thought that's what she got you?" asked James.

To which Remus shrugged and replied, "Great minds and all that."

"I was actually hoping to talk to you about that," said Melody, taking his lie as an opportunity to talk privately elsewhere. "You don't mind if I steal him from you for a mo', do you, lads?" The other three Marauders shook their heads and Melody smiled, beckoning Remus to follow her.

They settled for a relatively unpopulated spot just outside of an alley a couple of shops down. Melody was shaking all over now that they were alone, and was sure she would end up chickening out, it was just like her to. They'd probably only end up sharing an awkward hug and maybe a friendly cheek kiss. What kind of way to start off the New Year was that?

"Did you lie so they wouldn't make fun of you?" said Melody, aiming for lighthearted teasing.

"Something like that," he confessed. "Did you finally decide on what to name him?"

Remus's present had been the best. An owl, he had actually gotten her a pet owl. It was a lovely, little ball of white and brown feathers not unlike Neil's owl Mordecai which, from Remus's letter, Melody knew she had previously had to share. Mordecai was much bigger, though.

"Icarus," Melody replied with absolute certainty. "He seems to like it."

"It's a nice name."

"Look, um, Remus, there's something I want to tell you," she quickly spat out before they felt into a lapse of awkward silence. It was now or never, and she knew it. "We've been friends for a really long time now, right?"

"Since the very first day of school," agreed Remus, smiling down at her fondly.

"Right." _Not that I remember any of that_, Melody thought sadly. "And in that time I think we've gotten to know each other pretty well, don't you think? I mean, it'd be pretty weird if we didn't know each other because your like my best friend, right? And...and lately—we'll, I've been thinking a lot lately about...about..." she cut off, letting out a frustrated groan at just how stupid she sounded. "No, forget it. It's stupid. Let's just go back."

"What's stupid? I don't understand."

Melody shook her bowed head. "I don't know how—I don't think I can tell you."

Remus put his finger under her chin and lifted her head, so that she was looking up into his eyes. Melody swallowed hard. Remus towered over her as most other boys did and yet with him she did not feel as small. Perhaps it was because he could clearly see the fear and hesitation in him even in the half-darkness in which they stood. Her entire body trembled in anticipation of what she knew was coming. The ache, ever present, burned. It consumed her absolutely from the inside out. What she felt for this boy was much too strong, almost to the point of being unnatural. But that's what it all was, wasn't it? Unnatural. The place, the circumstance, her. She was the anomaly, the error. It was wrong of her to feel this way, to have the desires she had, and yet this knowledge did nothing to make them go away. She had never wanted anything more that how she wanted Remus at that very moment.

Remus touched her hair lightly, sliding the dark brown curls between his fingers,

"What can't you tell me?" he asked hoarsely, clearly as affected by Melody as she was by him.

Melody couldn't answer, having lost her ability to speak entirely. _What was it about him_, she thought, _that makes it so difficult for me to function properly? _

His hands moved to her shoulders then her arms, gently pulling her forward. Melody could feel the strength of him in this small maneuver and wondered how much stronger he would be closer to the full moon when his wolfish instincts begun to stir. This both frightened and excited her.

His golden eyes were darkened by desire though Melody knew he was not entirely lost to it. The conflict was still there. She could see as his instincts raged against his rationality, and wished he would just forget about everything for a moment and give in, for her sake if not for his.

Boldly, she pressed herself against him and rose onto her toes, draping her arms over his shoulders in the hope that this would encourage him to finally act and to explain what her words had not been able to. He stiffened but only for a moment, his breath catching in his throat.

The people around them continued their countdown. It was so close now.

_17, 16, 15, 14_...

Remus lifted his hand and traced the outline of Melody's lips with his thumb but other than that he had not moved. Melody lips pulled into a small smile as she saw his resolve beginning to crumble.

"Please," she whimpered, sounding more needy and desperate than she would have wanted to. "Do it."

_8, 7, 6, 5..._

He cupped her face in his large, scarred hands and looked down at her with sad resignation. "Mels," he rasped, crushing his lips against hers a second later.

The crowd erupted into cheer. It wasn't for them but that was what it had felt like for Melody. It was like in all those cliche movies she secretly loved only better because she wasn't just watching it happen, she was actually in it.

Remus's lips, they were just as soft as they'd been the last time they were on hers, but he wasn't as hesitant as he had been then. Their bodies and mouths moved so seamlessly together. It wasn't as chaste as the first had been either, but a fierce mess of tongues and teeth. Melody could hardly breathe and yet she did not dare break apart from him. Never had she felt so real and alive as when she was kissing him.

Remus was just as lost to the sensation as she was. He had managed to shuffle them deep into the alleyway, crushing Melody between his boy and the brick wall. His hands were all over the place, eager to touch every bit of her before he came to his senses. Melody was doing the same. Her hands went from his hair down to his arms, continuing their downward trajectory. He growled deep in his throat when her fingers traced along the patch of exposed skin above the waistband of his trousers.

All the while Remus knew it was wrong but could not stop. He did not want to stop, ever. The small skin to skin contact immediately freed the wolf from its mental restrains. Remus then lifted Melody up, her legs immediately wrapped themselves around his waist. He was lost, drowning in an endless sea of pleasure and happiness, and he was done caring.

They pulled away with swollen lips and quick breaths after what felt like a lifetime. Blushing, Melody awkwardly shimmied of Remus, careful not to hurt him, and smoothed out her blouse in silence. They had gone no farther than light touching but it still felt like something entirely indecent for such a public space, even if they'd kept away from the celebrating crowd.

"I'm sorry," Remus said eventually.

Melody was surprised and hurt to see him looking so miserable. It was etched all over his face that he regretted kissing her, and the realization of that was like a slap in the face to her. She could already feel the tears begin to well up as the crushing feeling of rejection left her feeling broken. It wasn't anything new; she was always rejected in the end, but this was Remus. Worse things had happened with others who had been near-strangers to her and it had not hurt nearly as much because she had not truly loved any of them, not really. But this was Remus and she did love him, already more than she should have.

"It's my fault," she sniffled. She had not been able to hold back the tears and hated that he was seeing her cry. "It my stupid fault. How could I have been such an idiot?"

"Is that what you were trying to say? That you...like me?" Melody almost wanted to laugh. Like him? She more than liked him. A lot more. Did he think it was just some petty physical attraction? "Mels, I—"

"No. Don't," she insisted, shaking her head. He reached out to try to comfort her but she pushed him away. "I-I have to go find Neil," she hiccoughed. "I need to get out of here. I can't be here. I don't want to. I want to go home. Neil can take me home, he's the only one who can."

"Melody, please." Remus called as she begun to walk away. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"

"No!" She spun around on her heel to face him again. Her face was already to get all red and splotchy. "No! Please don't try, all right? It was me! It always fucking is, isn't it? And you—I know you could never want me. How could you?"

"That's not what I—"

"I'm leaving."

She ran, pushing her way through the tight crowd until she found Neil and Mary in a cozy embrace. They had joined James and the others. Mary looked really happy, resting her head on Neil's shoulder, which only made Melody feel worse.

She shouldn't have tried to tell him, she berated herself. She really shouldn't have kissed him.

"What is it? What's wrong?" asked Neil immediately when he saw the state of her. "Where's—"

"Take me home now," she demanded, making her true meaning clear to him. "I can't stand it here, not anymore."

"Melody, I just can't—"

"Please," she pleaded, ignoring everyone else's worry and questions. "I don't want to be here."

"I'll try," said Neil, lowering his voice so that the others would not hear, "but I can't guarantee you won't just get sucked in again."

"I don't care."

"Fine." Neil nodded. "Let's go."


	10. Back to the Start

**A/N:** The beginning of this chapter had some pretty significant events but the rest feels pretty filler-ish to me. Sorry about that but my muse has not been with me lately and I'm sort of forcing my way through writer's block so please bear with me. I know this was shorter than the norm but it's all I've got for now. Sorry! I'll try to update soon. Thanks so much to all of you for reading. I give you all big, big virtual hugs...and cupcakes! Don't forget to drop me a line in the review box below. Let me know what you think of the fic so far and I'll message you right back =)

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**Chapter 10: Back to the Start**

"There's nowhere to go," said Neil as Melody dragged him along, her nails digging into his arm so fiercely that they drew blood. "Someone will see us."

Melody sniffled and stubbornly replied, "I don't care. I'll kill myself if I have to! That'll take me back, won't it?"

"Don't be stupid, Mels!" With a fierce tug to her arm he brought his sister to a halt. She winced and they both received dirty looks from the people around them, many of which had already been victim to their rude shoving. "You don't know that it would work," he said, lowering his voice. "I know you, Mels. I know something happened, just tell me."

"Nothing," she lied, shaking her head. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her bottom lip jutted out in a childish pout. She could feel the initial rage and sadness leaving her but she desperately clung to it. If she let the anger go it would only make her realize how ridiculous and unreasonable she was being. "It's too overwhelming. Everything is too much. It's killing me, Neil. Don't you feel it? I thought the other world was shitty—and maybe it is—but this one is just fucking cruel."

"It's difficult for me, too," said Neil honestly. "Don't you get that?"

Melody laughed derisively. "At least you have a chance! You have Mary! Your future..it can be whatever you want, but I don't get that. I'm not allowed."

_I'm not allowed. _Those three words were all Neil needed to understand. "Remus?" he sighed. "Gods, Melody, cut the poor guy some slack! Did you think love would be enough for him to set aside years of self-torture? He thinks he's a monster. Don't you get it? It's nothing to do with you!"

"That's not good enough! He's being an idiot!"

"I know."

Melody froze. It was not Neil who had spoken but Remus. He stood behind her out of breath from chasing her.

"I should have known you'd figure it out eventually," He half-smiled; relieved she finally knew the truth but wary of what might come next. "How long?" he asked softly.

"I—I've always known," said Melody sounding far more calm than she felt. She was torn between wanting to punch him and wanting to kiss him again. Her heart was beating furiously in her chest, so hard and so loudly she was sure Remus could hear it, even over the joyous commotion around them. "It's never bothered me. Never have I felt repelled by it. I don't care."

"But you should," he insisted. "Please understand that. I can't—I'm no good for you."

"Then who, pray tell, _is _good enough for me? James? Sirius? _Peter_?" Melody visibly shuddered at the last, an image of Peter kissing her unwillingly popping into her head. "Who if not you?"

Remus had no answer. The truth was—and deep down Melody knew this even then—that the thought of anyone else having Melody sickened him. Inside him the wolf growled, insisting that Melody was theirs, that they would have her taken away from them but Remus knew that letting her go was the right thing to do. He would probably never get rid of the pain of willingly losing her, but she would forget she ever loved him as anything more than a friend and move on.

"Why are you doing this?" Melody demanded.

"Because I love you," Remus replied without hesitation though the words crushed him. "When I kissed you I meant it, but I knew I could never do it again. It wasn't supposed to happen. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you."

_Too late, _she thought, but instead of feeling sadder, she felt an odd calm overcome her. She understood that Neil had been right and that springing a confession on him was not going to erase years of fear and self-loathing. The right thing to do was to let it go, at least until they were both ready to discuss it again. Yet she felt so stupid, so embarrassed by her reaction that she wanted nothing more than to forget it all. She wanted Remus to forget, too. Looking down at the lovely gold watch her mother had given her for Christmas she saw that it was 1:11 a.m. She had not had the Trace on her for exactly four minutes.

"What are you doing?" asked Neil as he watched Melody take her wand out from the inside pocket of her jacket.

She lightly pressed the tip of her wand against Remus's temple and, before he could protest, whispered, "Obliviate."

Watching as Remus's features shifted from emotionally tortured to pleasantly calm, she asked him to tell the others that she wasn't feeling very well.

"Sure." Remus smiled, completely oblivious to their previous conversation.

Erasing his memory had been such a stupid, spur-of-the-moment thing to do and with her very limited knowledge of magic it could have gone very wrong. Melody knew she was very lucky that it had had the desired effect and was relieved to see that it had not caused him any harm. From the corner of her eye she saw Neil staring at her with a combination of rage and disbelief. She tried to ignore the guilt that was already grabbing hold of her.

"I hope you feel better soon."

"Thanks, Moony," she said, flashing him a bittersweet smile. "Happy New Year."

Remus bent down, pressing a soft kiss on her head. "Happy birthday."

It was close to two in the morning when Melody had finished readying herself for bed. She had washed her face, brushed her teeth, and changed into the lovely silk nightgown which had been Victoria's Christmas/birthday gift to her. She sat on the edge of her bed, staring at herself in the mirror that hung right across from her, surprised by how different she was.

She had noticed the physical change a lot more in her first days but after that hardly paid any mind to them, but now she found herself missing her old self. She missed imperfect Melody, the one who was chubby and didn't have freckles, the one with brown eyes... The girl in the mirror was too pretty to be so sad; she was too pretty to feel rejected.

_Weren't we all lead to believe from an early age that beautiful people had perfect lives?_ she thought.

Looking down at her wand, which she was aimlessly twirling in her her fingers, she wondered if she was going about things the right way.

_You know you're not_, the little voice in her head told her. _This is wrong and it'll come back to bite you in the ass soon enough. _

Until then, Melody didn't care. She sighed, doing to herself what she had done to Remus before falling into a long, dreamless sleep.

**~ooOOOoo~**

Melody couldn't understand why she could hardly remember New Year's, but felt as though something significant had happened. Mary told her that she probably felt that way because she had been ill. Indeed, she had woken up later that day with a terrible headache similar to those she had when she went from one world to another, although milder. She felt echoes of the headache whenever she tried to remember and by the time they were set to go back to school she had given up entirely.

The Hogwarts express chugged along the miles of monotonous greenery and murky skies; at a glacial pace, it seemed. If Melody looked out her window for too long everything begun to blur which only made her go cross-eyed and feel dizzy. She sighed and rummaged through her bag, pulling out a heavily used copy of _One Hundred Years of Solitude _she had found in her grandmother's library. It did not distract her as she had hoped it would, rather it frustrated her as she trudged along the passages of which she, with her seldom used Spanish, could understand very little.

The nagging little voice in the back of her head told her that what she really should have been doing was cramming as much magical knowledge into her brain in a pathetic attempt to make up for not having studied at all during break. Melody was convinced, however, that her school books had been cursed so that she would not be able to study. How else would someone explain the fact that she felt asleep almost immediately after cracking any of them open?

"Sure," snorted Mary. "Blame the books."

She sat on Neil's lap with his arms wrapped cozily around her, both wearing those smug couple-y smirks that hadn't left their faces since they became a 'thing.' Melody was truly happy for them but she still couldn't help but feel a teensy pang of jealousy.

"You've obviously been coasting on your natural talents for too long."

Melody glared at her best friend but knew she was absolutely right.

"I'm screwed," she said finally, biting down hard on her bottom lip. "I'll fail the term if I can't get help. Can't you, like, tutor me or something, twin?"

"I wish I could," replied Neil, sincerely regretful, "but I've got enough on my plate. I agreed to help a group of fifth years prep for their O.W.L.s before we left for Gran's, _and _I've got my prefect duties."

"You've got Quidditch, as well," Mary reminded him.

Melody groaned. "Do you ever stop being perfect?"

"Nope," giggled Mary, placing a chaste peck on his lips.

Neil grinned. "Why don't you ask Lily to help you? She's second in our class, you know."

"Behind you, right?"

Mary giggled again and Neil's grin widened. "Of course."

"I can't ask Lily effing Evans. She...scares me," Melody confessed, feeling the heat rush to her cheeks. "I've not spoken to her since... I mean she's...she's..."

_She's Harry Potter's mum, _she almost said. And it wasn't that she disliked the girl—not at all—only that she found her terribly intimidating. She was so smart and so girl-next-door pretty that it physically hurt to be in the same room with her, and it didn't help that she was so nice. If she had been a bitch like Beth or even as self-obsessed as Blondie it would have been easy to dislike her. Alas she wasn't.

"You speak to Jamie all the time and you don't freak out about it," said Neil, understanding what his sister had really meant. "How is her any different?"

Mary snorted. It was very, very different, obviously. At least from a normal perspective it was.

"Evans knows I'm friends with him, idiot. That in itself is reason enough for her _not_ to like me."

Neil rolled his eyes. "Sort things out yourself then. I was only trying to help."

Melody went back to her book with a huff, sliding down in her seat until she looked like something akin to a boneless blob. She must have read the same passage ten times, understanding less each time, before she drifted off to sleep. She hadn't even realized it until Mary shook her awake, informing her that they had arrived.

Bleary-eyed and heavy-limbed she scrambled to put her school robes on and collect her things, stumbling off the train in such a manner which lead many of her peer to believe she was drunk. She smiled apologetically at the pair of Hufflepuff girls she crashed into before dashing off after her brother and Mary.

"You should have woken me up sooner," she grumbled crossly as they walked into the castle.

"But you look so cute and harmless when you're asleep," said Mary in her baby voice, pinching Melody's cheek.

"And now I look like shit." Melody whined, swatting Mary away in an equally babyish manner.

"Ugh. I'm skipping dinner and going straight to bed."

She didn't even make it to the main staircase. The moment she broke apart from her companions she bumped into none other than Lily Evans who was, at that moment, flanked by Lyra Costello and Kat Tam.

"You look like shit, Corden," chuckled Lyra.

"Way to state the obvious, Blondie." She turned to Kat and Lily and said, "I still haven't fully woken up yet. Sorry about that."

"No need to apologize," said Lily sweetly, waving her hand dismissively.

Her voice so musical it should have belonged to a Disney princess. Hell, Lily Evans herself was some undiscovered Disney princess. It was only a matter of time, Melody thought.

"It's good that we bumped into each other. I was just about to go look for you."

"Oh? What about?" asked Melody, confusion plain on her face.

"You brother mentioned that you've been having trouble with some subjects lately?" Melody nodded, feeling her cheeks heat up. "Could I be of any help?"

"That's really nice of you," she finally said having shaken off the embarrassment. "I'd really appreciate the help. Thanks, Evans."

"You can call me Lily, you know. I know I may not be as close to you as Mary is but I'd still like to think of us as friends." She smiled again and it was one of those smiles that were just so contagious. "I was surprised to hear you needed tutoring what with you being second in our year. Tied with me, as always, but second nonetheless," she added, almost blasé.

If Melody had been drinking water then she would have definitely spat it out. "Why on earth would you help me then? Isn't it to your advantage to let me fail?"

"What fun would that be?" she chuckled. "I enjoy a little competition now and then, and I know that you must be going through something pretty serious if it's distracted you from your studies—your the only we know who didn't crack at O.W.L.s last year—" Kat nodded and so did Lyra, albeit begrudgingly—"and you received a nearly perfect score."

"No shit?"

Lily gave her a puzzled look. "Surely, you remember? Don't you?"

She knew she would have to dig up her results just to fully believe her but went along with it just to not come off as suspicious. "How could I forget?"

"A lot has changed since then, eh, Corden?" said Lyra.

Melody nodded sheepishly. She knew Lyra wasn't saying it to be vicious, that it was just her brand of 'friendship.' It was like the opposite of Melody's self-deprecation. "It would seem that I can't rest on my natural talents any more," she said mirroring Mary's words with an exaggerated sigh. "I've got to study just like everyone else now." The three girls laughed. "Thanks, Lily."

"No problem. We'll sort out a schedule tomorrow."

"Sounds great."

Days later, Melody sat with her usual group at lunch, casually picking at her plate as she mused at how easy it was to fall back into her Hogwarts routine. Things had started looking up the moment Lily offered to tutor her, and soon after that she realized that Sirius's demented fan club had finally left her alone after Sirius was caught with his hand up Lyra's robes right in the middle of Transfiguration (Lyra wasn't really the quiet type). It was a small miracle that nothing new had been introduced in any of Melody's classes and that they would be reviewing for a few more days. It was Thursday and with Lily's tutoring sessions that evening she had high hopes of catching up. She didn't care if she lost her second place slot as long as she didn't fail the year.

Mary still couldn't believe it.

"_Evans_? Lily Evans is tutoring _you_?" she asked incredulously for the millionth time that week. "But _why_?"

"It's not been the easiest year for me, Mary," sighed Melody for the millionth time that week. It was, of course, the understatement of the millennium.

"I know your brother's busy but couldn't you have just asked Moony?" said Peter.

Melody's eyes flickered to Remus, and she wondered why she hadn't thought to ask him after Neil. In fact, when she really thought about it, it was almost as if they had been avoiding each other since they came back which was strange since nothing weird or bad had happened between them. It reminded her of what he was like when she had barely arrived.

"Even if she had asked, I couldn't have helped her," said Remus. "I'm helping Estella Podmore study for her OW.L.s."

"Oh." This was definitely news to Melody.

"I hear tell she fancies you, Moons," said James, elbowing his friend.

"I'm really not interested," he muttered shyly, his eyes darting up at Melody for a split second before returning to his plate of practically untouched food. "You could have asked Sirius, you know. His marks are rather good," he said, going back to the topic.

"I _thought_ about it but realized it would only be counterproductive; I need to improve my marks not my ability to put up with his flirting."

Sirius winked at her from across the table and she rolled her eyes, fighting the urge to smile. He was just so predictable.

"Behave, Padfoot," said Remus stiffly. "You've already landed yourself in detention for toying with Costello."

"Let's not forget that bubbly Hufflepuff in the second floor broom cupboard," squeaked Peter, looking up at his friend in awe. James chuckled, shaking his head. Sirius merely beamed with pride.

"We're straying from the subject, though," said James seriously. This serious mask lasted for a grand total of three seconds before he reverted to his lovesick puppy mode. "Pinky, now that you'll be spending more time with my girl do you think you could—"

"You want me to put in a good word for you, Prongs?" Melody had been expecting this, but thought James would have brought it up much sooner.

"Would you, Pinky? Pretty please?" he begged.

"Sure," Melody sighed, "but keep in mind that I'm no miracle worker. It's not like talking you up will suddenly make Lily fall in love with you."


End file.
